Beaten at the buzzer

This one is going to sting for a while.

Everything seemed to be coming up roses for the Mid-Prairie girls? basketball team, as they closed the gap late on Wednesday night.

In the second round of the playoffs, The Golden Hawks were tied with Benton at 47 in the overtime period, and with 11 seconds left, Ali Butters went to the line for Mid-Prairie.

She missed the first but hit the second to give Mid-Prairie the lead, and the clock started running.

Benton flew down the court, and after scoring only six points all season, the Bobcats? Reanna Bear found some open space underneath the basket and put up a shot.

It went through with a second left, and the Hawks couldn?t get a shot off as their season ended with a  49-48 overtime loss.

?You never forget (these games),? Mid-Prairie head coach Stephen Bender said after the tough loss. ?I still remember mine from high school and (when I coached at) West Branch. I?ll remember this one forever. The thing that hurts so bad, I actually talked to the girls about not taking one play off,  because it?s the difference between a win and a loss. That?s what it came down to, one play.?

Bear, the unlikely hero for Benton, didn?t play at all in regulation but had to come in during the overtime period due to the Bobcats? post players fouling out. She doubled her season point total in the overtime period on Wednesday night.

?We wanted to keep them out of the lane,? Bender said. ?We just had one too many times when they drove by us and we didn?t move our feet. You just hate for that to happen. (Bear) scores six points all season, then scores six points in overtime and it was us not moving our feet.?

It was a tight game the whole way through as Benton led for the majority of the first half. Mid-Prairie tied up the game at 17 right before halftime, but a late bucket before the break gave the Bobcats a 19-17 lead.

In the second half, the Bobcats stretched their lead to six points, 26-20, but that would end up being the furthest they could get it.

Mid-Prairie cut the lead to three points going into the fourth quarter, and a set of buckets by senior Taylor Kurtz brought the Hawks within one point.

Benton took a three-point lead, before Mid-Prarire had to tie the game up at the free-throw line.

Coming into the game, the Hawks were shooting 49 percent from the charity stripe, but on Wednesday it was simply their night, as they hit 12 of their last 14 free throws.

Alex Rath hit both of her free throw attempts with 13.7 seconds left, then as Benton tried to inbound the ball, the Hawks forced a five-second call, giving them the ball back.

After a timeout, senior Taylor Kurtz drew a foul with two seconds left and had a chance to give the Hawks the lead.

Kurtz hit both, putting Mid-Prairie up 40-39 with seven seconds left. Benton raced down the court and drew a two-shot foul with 3.1 seconds left. The Bobcats? Alyssa Wiebel made the first but missed the second, sending the game into overtime.

In overtime, the Hawks jumped out to a 44-41 lead, but Benton battled back with back-to-back buckets to take a one-point lead.

Ali Riggan hit a 3-pointer for Mid-Prairie to give them a 47-45 lead, but Bear hit her second bucket of the game to tie it up.

Butters hit her free throw with 11 seconds left, and then Bear hit her heroic shot to break the hearts of the home team.

?I thought it was our turn to win one of these,? Bender said. ?We lost a couple of these when I was at West Branch, and I lost one in my senior year on a 3-pointer. We were hitting our free throws and I thought, ?We got this thing.? We got them in foul trouble. We had a couple costly turnovers and didn?t play smart basketball.?

The Hawks end the year at 15-8 on the season and will gradate seven seniors off this year?s roster.