Eleven lead changes and four additional minutes were required, but a winner was finally determined Tuesday night.
Led by sophomore guard Lauren Foster’s game-high 22 points, the Indian Creek girls basketball team got out of Greenwood’s gym with a pulse-accelerating 46-45 overtime victory for what was the Braves’ ninth consecutive win.
Indian Creek (11-2) prevailed over the Woodmen for a fourth straight time in the series.
Easy it wasn’t.
“A lot of excitement,” Braves coach Brian Ferris said. “It was a physical game from start to finish, and it came down to whoever had the ball last and had the opportunity to put the ball in the basket. There were a lot of kids on both sides who stepped up and hit 3s and big free throws.
“We just had to weather the storms and get it down to where you had a good last possession.”
Foster accounted for four of the Braves final six points over the last 48.3 seconds of OT to erase what had been the home squad’s 43-40 advantage. Junior wing Savannah Hall also proved clutch, sinking two game-tying free throws with 20.9 seconds showing in overtime for what were her 13th and 14th points.
Supplying the difference was Foster, who was fouled driving to the basket at 8.2 seconds of OT. She missed the first free throw and made the second. Woodmen sophomore forward Brooklyn Bell drove the lane for the potential game-winning basket, but her layup was off the mark.
Greenwood coaches and fans screamed for a foul to be called, but to no avail.
“What we told the girls in the locker room was that we should never leave it in the hands of the officials,” said Woodmen coach Justin Bennett, whose team dropped to 5-9. “For us, if we take care of business early and often, then we don’t have to worry about it.
“(Indian Creek) was one play better than us tonight, and hat’s off to coach Ferris and his team. They did a good job.”
Foster tied teammate Emily Todor for team rebounding honors with six; Greenwood junior guard Lily Howe tallied 21 points to lead her club, followed by the team’s lone senior, wing Quinn Kelly, with 13.
Howe had 12 of Greenwood’s 18 first-half points, but the Braves still led at intermission, 21-18.
Indian Creek received a scare at 2:01 or the first quarter when sophomore post Faith Wiseman, who averages a double-double, limped off the court after twisting her right ankle.
Despite her absence, the Braves used triples from freshman guard Ayla Lollar, Hall and Foster to take a 16-10 lead at 5:49 of the second stanza.
The Woodmen signaled timeout and proceeded to score six straight points on four Howe charities and a layup by junior guard Lily Hommell.
Wiseman reentered the game at the 5-minute mark of the second quarter and was able to go the rest of the way.
Indian Creek returns to action Monday evening against Mooresville in the first round of the two-day Bloom Bank Classic at Lebanon. The Woodmen travel to the Park Tudor Tournament on Tuesday and will face Brebeuf Jesuit in the 11:30 a.m. second game.
