With 1.7 seconds to go, Whiteland’s girls basketball players were frantically trying to get a good shot to tie or win the game. So Warriors coach Kyle Shipp called for a timeout.
One problem — the Warriors were out of timeouts. That gave Franklin Central two free throws and the possession.
Franklin Central’s Rachel Loobie calmly hit two free throws to seal the visiting Flashes’ 61-57 victory against Whiteland Tuesday night.
Flashes coach Brian Hacker said he doesn’t ever remember that happening at the end of the game.
“We knew right away he didn’t have any,” Hacker said. “So that’s a good thing. It gave us a little cushion and made the last two free throws a little easier.”
Shipp said it was unwelcome first for him.
“We just couldn’t get a good look at it,” Shipp said. “It was just miscommunication from the coaches’ point. We thought we had a 30-second (timeout) left. Just bad coaching. We’ve got to get better.”
Trailing 45-44 late in the third quarter, Jessyca Napier’s 3-pointer put the Warriors (0-2) ahead 47-45 with 16 seconds left. Whiteland then expanded the lead to 52-45 by scoring the first five points of the fourth quarter. However, the Flashes (2-1) came storming back to take the lead.
“It comes down to making plays at the end of the game,” Shipp said. “We’ve been in two really tight games, which will make us a better team and we’ll grow from it. We’ve just got to find ways to make plays continually. My girls played hard. We’ll look to get better from this.”
Shipp said the Warriors couldn’t get a basket to fall down the stretch when they had a chance to really pull away.
“We’ve got to put nails in their coffin by getting defensive stops, too,” he added.
Center Mackenzie Blazek led the Warriors with 19 points. Napier had 12 points, hitting 4 of 6 3-pointers.
Hines, who had a game-high 20 points, sank a 3-pointer as time was ran out in the first quarter to give the Flashes a 15-7 lead. The Warriors bounced back in the second quarter, thanks to two 3-pointers by Napier, but Hines hit a jumper at the buzzer to tie it 32-all at halftime.
“We had a good game plan when all five kids were doing the game plan at the same time,” Hacker said. “The first four minutes of the game, we played good defense. We got away from it and then got it back at the end. We mixed up what we were doing. We went to a zone at the end and faked some man pressure. The kids came through and took care of the ball."
Whiteland is scheduled to open Johnson County tournament play Friday against Tuesday night’s Greenwood-Franklin winner at Edinburgh. That game may be moved to Thursday since Center Grove won its regional football game.
