BY BRIAN HAMILTON
SEYMOUR – The game was tied at 56-56 with under 20 seconds to go with third-place in Class 3A District 3 hanging in the balance. That’s when Seymour’s Bailey Tidwell took a handoff from Kali Fisher and drove down the lane for a game-winning layup with three seconds remaining, giving the Lady Eagles a crucial 58-56 district win over Austin-East.
“It was huge,” Seymour head coach Lindsey Koeneman said after the win. “We talked about how important this game was and how important our defensive effort was going to have to be. We were going to have to execute on offense. We had a game plan and the girls followed through.”
Seymour’s Bailey Tidwell (13) drives for the winning layup to defeat Austin-East 58-56. Photo by Brian Hamilton
The win kept Seymour alive for the 3-seed in next week’s district tournament and forced a winner-take-all game at Austin-East on Monday. The winner finishes as the 3-seed and the loser finishes with the 4-seed, as both teams have a 5-4 district record.
Koeneman started all of the Seymour seniors to the start game to honor them for senior night.
Aaleyah McDermott scored the first field goal of the contest to put Austin-East in front 2-1 just over a minute into the game. Seymour trailed 4-1 when Koeneman called timeout to put her normal starters in the game.
Kali Fisher scored on a layup to make the score 4-3, but the Lady Roadrunners would answer to push the lead to 6-3 with just over five minutes left. A rebound and layup by Tyrimirrianna Brown would put Austin-East in front 8-3 with 3:18 left in the first quarter.
Seymour’s Makenna Sharp would stop the bleeding with a three-pointer to make the score 8-6 on the next possession. A three by Fisher would give the Lady Eagles a 9-8 lead with 2:11 to go, but Brown would bank a shot in to put Austin-East back in front 10-9.
Sharp hit her second three of the game with 1:31 left in the first quarter, putting Seymour ahead 12-10. A pair of free throws by Bailey Tidwell stretched the lead to 14-11, but Brown nailed a three with 10 seconds remaining to tie the game at 14-14 after one quarter.
Austin-East would take a 16-14 lead to open the second quarter, but a layup by Tidwell would knot the game back up at 16-16. A layup by Tidwell gave Seymour a 19-16 lead with 4:48 left after she converted the three-point play. An and-one by McDermott would put the Lady Roadrunners back in front 21-19, however, with just over four minutes remaining in the half.
Tidwell nailed a three with 3:10 left in the half to put Seymour ahead 22-21. Fisher later found Emily Schultz on a long pass for an easy layup and a 26-22 Lady Eagle lead.
Seymour’s Emily Schultz (15) tries to wrestle the ball away from an Austin-East defender. Photo by Brian Hamilton
A three-pointer by Austin-East would trim the deficit to 26-25, but a layup by Mattie Jarvis would make the score 28-25 with 41 seconds in the quarter and that would be the halftime score, as Austin-East missed a shot at the buzzer.
Tidwell opened the third quarter with another conventional three-point play to stretch the lead to 31-25. A triple by Makenna Sharp — her third of the evening — gave the Lady Eagles a 35-29 lead with 4:41 left, but Brown scored a layup to pull the Lady Roadrunners to within 35-31.
Another three-point play by Tidwell pushed the lead to 40-33 with 3:31 remaining in the third quarter, which was followed by a free throw by Jarvis, which gave the Lady Eagles an 8-point lead.
Brown continued to keep Austin-East in the game, converting a three-point play on the other end to make the score 41-36. A three by Brown pulled the Lady Roadrunners to within 44-39 with just under two minutes left in the third quarter.
Austin-East would cut its deficit to 45-44 when Brown found McDermott for a wide open layup with 16 seconds left in the quarter and the Lady Roadrunners would head to the fourth quarter on an 11-4 run.
Seymour quickly pushed the lead to 51-46 to open the fourth quarter, but Brown came up clutch again, grabbing a steal and scoring, plus converting the and-one, to make the score 51-49 with 4:33 left.
A layup by Kali Fisher quickly stretched the Seymour lead back to 54-49 with just over two minutes left. Ja’Onna Witt scored a basket for Austin-East to cut the Lady Eagles’ lead to 54-51 with 1:07 remaining, but Brown picked up her fifth foul on the inbounds, which sent Tidwell to the line, where she converted 1-of-2 for a 55-51 lead.
The Lady Roadrunners rallied, however, with their best player on the bench with five fouls, as Erreshae Williams nailed a three with 50 seconds left to make the score 55-54.
Austin-East’s Tyrimirrianna Brown (20) attempts to drive to the basket while Seymour’s Emily Schultz (15) defends. Photo by Brian Hamilton
Fisher went straight to the hoop on the other end and was fouled. She converted 1-of-2 free throw attempts, opening the door for the Lady Roadrunners. Witt scored a basket with 23 seconds left to tie the game at 56-56.
After calling a timeout, Seymour inbounded the ball to Kali Fisher at the top of the key with 16 seconds left. Fisher signaled for Tidwell to come get the ball, which she did, then the lane opened up like the parting of the Red Sea. Tidwell appeared to be slightly tripped as she headed down the lane, but no foul was called, so she put it up off the glass and in, sending the senior night crowd into a frenzy and giving the Lady Eagles a 58-56 win.
“As soon as I got the ball my heart dropped, to be honest with you,” Tidwell said on the game-winner. “I knew that we only had a certain amount of time left and Kali had told me before she passed me the ball, ‘If I can’t get a drive, I’m kicking it to you to shoot a three.’ She kicked it and I guess my go-to move is just to try to drive and draw a foul. When I got hit the first time and they didn’t call the foul, I was just like, ‘Oh no,’ but I shot it and thank the Good Lord it went in.”
Bailey Tidwell led all scorers with 26, while Kali Fisher finished with 11. Makenna Sharp added 9 points for the Lady Eagles.
Tyrimirrianna Brown led Austin-East with 24 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter, while Aaleyah McDermott finished with 15, and Ja’Onna Witt added seven for the Lady Roadrunners.
“She’s a phenomenal basketball player,” Koeneman said of Brown. “One of our main goals was to try to contain her the best that we could, so we tried to switch up some defenses and try to find something to contain her, but again, we were able to talk and rotate on defense. It was a good team win.”
Seymour (9-16, 5-4 Class 3A District 3) will travel to Austin-East (13-12, 5-4 District 3) on Monday at 6 p.m. to decide third-place in the district.