MAGNET COVE -- Trailing by 6 going into the final quarter, Fountain Lake refused to back down, even after Bismarck pushed out to an 8-point lead with 2:29 off the clock in the first round game of the Battle at the Cove at Panther Arena.
Presley Hamric put up 5 back-to-back points including 3 at the free throw line, and the spread hung around 5 points until free throws by Jill Norman and Emoree Martin followed by a bucket by Hamric knotted the score at 43-all with 1:00 remaining.
"I feel like the biggest possession of the ball game was about with 1:45, 1:30 we got a stop," said Bismarck head coach Mark Hamby. "We were up five, 43-38, and we pushed the ball up. And instead of being patient and kind of working for a shot, maybe work 30 seconds off and then you get a good look, we shot the first available shot; didn't take any time off the clock. And then lo and behold, they get a rebound and come down and score. That's a huge turnaround."
Hannah Vaughn hit a free throw with 22 seconds to go and one by Norman with 9 seconds left gave the Lady Cobras (5-1) the 45-43 win.
"Both teams, nobody could really get any chemistry," Hamby said. "I felt like we kind of got some stretches where we got some separation, but then Fountain Lake, always fought back. I thought we made some silly fouls that kind of helped them get back in the game."
Fountain Lake took an early 3-0 lead before Bismarck (2-3) hit a 10-2 run to push out to a 10-5 lead with 2:08 left in the first period. Fountain Lake pulled within 14-9 a minute into the second period, but a 4-1 run made it 18-10 just over a minute later.
The Lady Cobras hit a 7-0 run to cut the deficit down to 19-16 with 3:45 left in the half. Hamric hit a free throw with 17 seconds left to cut the deficit down to 2 before Makenna Norris sank one of two at the line for a 24-21 halftime lead.
"We got the shots we wanted," said Fountain Lake head coach Chris Mungle, regarding a game where the Lady Cobras shot just 20 percent from the field. "It wasn't like we were taking bad shots; we just couldn't hit a shot, and defensively our intensity level was not good early. We were letting them move the basketball way too much.
"And, you know, this group of girls, we shoot the ball a lot better than we did tonight, but we are trying to become a defensive-minded team to where if we play defense and rebound, we've got a chance to win every night. And we've got to buy into that, and our defense was not very good. Now turning the defense up right there late, got some easy buckets, got to the free throw line."
Bismarck pushed out to a 6-point lead multiple times in the third, but it could never increase the separation.
Hamric led the Lady Cobras with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists, and Martin had 13 with 4 boards. Alyssa Zia led the Lady Lions with 11 points while Norris pulled down a team-leading 8 rebounds and Hannah Collie had 3 steals.
Both teams will play again on Saturday with Bismarck facing Cutter Morning Star at noon and Fountain Lake facing Magnet Cove or Ouachita at 3 p.m.
Lady Lions-Lady Cobras, Box
BISMARCK (43)
Alyssa Zia 3-7 4-7 11, Kady Pleasants 2-6 0-2 5, Makenna Norris 0-3 4-6 4, Hannah Collie 2-10 1-2 5, Bianca Pettus 1-4 0-0 2, Courtney Newsom 2-3 0-1 6, Erin Fendley 2-2 0-0 5, Mirissa Kegley 1-2 2-3 4, Anna Cain 0-3 1-2.
FOUNTAIN LAKE (45)
Jill Norman 2-16 6-10 10, Emoree Martin 4-7 5-10 13, Presley Hamric 4-18 8-12 16, Hannah Vaughn 1-8 1-4 4, Karli Bryant 0-3 2-3 2, Bailey Helton 0-3 0-2 0.
BIS 5 12 8 11 36
FL 13 11 16 7 47
3-Point Goals-Bis 5-9 (Newsom 2-3, Zia 1-1, Pleasants 1-2, Fendley 1-1, Collie 0-1, Pettus 0-1), FL 1-13 (Vaughn 1-4, Norman 0-5, Bryant 0-3, Hamric 0-1). Fouled Out-Bis 2 (Zia, Pleasants), FL 2 (Bryant, Helton). Rebounds-Bis 25 (Norris 8), FL 25 (Hamric 8). Assists-Bis 7 (Zia 2, Collie 2), FL 7 (Hamric 3, Vaughn 3). Total Fouls-CMS 29, MP 21.
Sports on 12/06/2019