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Carthey sinks Trojans at the buzzer
Mt. Pleasant tops Fairfield in instant classic
MT. PLEASANT — Both the Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield girls basketball teams have struggled to get wins on the hardwood this winter, but you wouldn’t have known it on Friday night.
The two rivals played an overtime thriller in their first meeting of the year, and the game quite literally went down to the final horn.
Mt. Pleasant sophomore Abby Carthey rolled in a circus shot as the clock hit zero to give the Panthers a thrilling 51-50 overtime win.
“It seemed like it hung there forever,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Curt Watson. “I was saying 'oh please fall in.'”
Carthey inbounded the ball down one point with 3.4 seconds left. Fellow sophomore Myah Starr caught the pass and gave it right back, and Carthey spun around and threw up the shot in the midst of slew of Trojan defenders, sending the Mt. Pleasant bench into a frenzy.
“It was really hype,” Carthey said. “Everybody was yelling. Our coach was super hyped. It was great.”
Carthey had previously cut the lead down to one point after making one of two free throws in the final five seconds. The second shot rolled off the rim and was tipped out by the Trojans.
Carthey wasn’t the only Panther sophomore to hit a big shot. Starr- hit a game-tying three-pointer in the final minutes of regulation, her first basket of the game, and Kynlee White tied the game at 36-36 on a midrange shot with just seven seconds left in regulation.
“Nobody held their heads down,” Carthey said. “Sometimes we do, but in this game, confidence was 100% and we just didn't give up.”
Mt. Pleasant had their backs against the walls for most of the game, as Fairfield made play after play down the stretch to hold onto the advantage. Briana Steele had put Fairfield up by two points on a short shot with one minute left in regulation, and Savannah Hollander made what looked to be the game-winner, a driving layup with 15 ticks on the clock.
“I thought my kids played with a lot of heart,” said Fairfield head coach Rebecca Becker. “It's good for us to be in a close game, because there's a lot of learning that goes on, but this one was a tough one.”
After the first quarter ended at 3-3, Fairfield led 18-12 at halftime and 25-23 at the end of the third quarter. Mt. Pleasant rarely led in the game until the final ticks.
Carthey finished the night with 13 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals. White had 10 points and four steals. Juliana Burns scored 10. Paityn Ensminger had six. Starr and Alexa Fuller ended with five each.
Hollander led Fairfield with 20 points, eight of which came in the extra period. She also led the team with six steals. Steele and Metcalf each had 10 points and six rebounds. Faith Jones had six points, seven rebounds and four assists. Maddy Martin and Elyse Setterstrom each scored two.
Mt. Pleasant is now 3-9 on the year and 1-4 in conference play. Fairfield is 2-9 and 0-5.
