There was less than a minute to go when Elaine Purvis pointed her right index finger and smiled at her Montgomery County teammates.
Purvis and friends were rightly overjoyed. The Lady Indians escaped with a 52-48 win over Bishop Brossart in Saturday’s girls 10th Region semifinals in The Fieldhouse at Mason County.
Brossart finished at 22-12. Jill Planeaux capped her high school career with 13 points, and Zoee Meyers added 12.
“We fought to the last minute,” Planeaux said. “But just a couple balls went their way. We couldn’t get back.”
Shae Harris led Montgomery County (22-12) with 15 points. Purvis and Allie Dillon added 12 apiece.
Saturday’s first quarter was closer than Homecoming dancers twirling and sashaying to Mariah Carey’s “Thank God I Found You.”
After Harris converted one of Brossart’s 15 turnovers a minute in, Bella Rowe’s bucket tied the score at 2-2, and Molly Kramer hit two free throws made it 4-2. Montgomery County, countered with Hayden Barrier’s layup, and Ella Routt’s layup in which she faked out two Lady ‘Stangs.
Brossart finished the quarter with an 8-0 run – and a 12-6 lead – over the last 1:46.
“Our defense got to ‘em,” Planeaux said.
Montgomery County tied the score at 20-all mostly at the free throw line. Purvis, Harris and Dillon all hit 1-and-1 freebies.
Brossart coughed up 15 turnovers for the night, including two 5-second calls in less than a minute. What was more frustrating: the Lady ‘Stangs did not have a field goal over the final 5:40 and only took a 22-20 lead at the break on Claire Hummel’s free throws with 15.7 seconds to go.
“I think we got some transition baskets,” Brossart coach Steve Brown said. “We got some easy looks at the basket, our defense was pretty good all night.”
Montgomery County coach Dustin High said speeding the tempo was important.
“I think it was making it more of a full-court game instead of a half-court possession-to-possession game,” High said. “We knew we were going to give up some possessions and maybe some easy ones, but just in order to speed up the game and play a little quicker I thought was important.”
Harris’ six points and two from Dillon and Purvis gave the Lady Indians a 30-22 advantage early in third quarter.
Brossart closed Montgomery County’s lead to 38-37 with 5:31 to play on Planeaux’s two free throws – just in time for Dillon’s 3-pointer just 14 seconds later.
“We had momentum on our side, swinging for us, and then the Dillon kid hit a 25-foot 3-pointer,” Brown said. “That was a huge part of the fourth quarter.”
Was Brossart done? Hardly – the Lady ‘Stangs eventually closed to within 47-45 with 52.4 seconds on Meyers’ 3 from the right corner.
Montgomery County finally prevailed after Purvis’ smile-inducing two free throws put the Lady Indians ahead, 49-45.
Next for Montgomery County: Seven-time defending region champion George Rogers Clark at 3 p.m. Sunday. The Cardinals eliminated Scott, 75-56.
As for Brossart …
“We had a remarkable season,” Planeaux said. “No one besides the people in that room thought we were going to go where we went, and we believed in ourselves.”
“I wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else.”
MONTGOMERY CO. 6 12 12 22 – 52
BISHOP BROSSART 12 10 7 19 – 48
Montgomery Co. (52) — Routt 4, Dillon 12, Purvis 12, Barrier 9, Harris 15. 3-Pt. FG: 3 (Dillon 2, Barrier). FT: 21-28. Rebounds: 33 (Oney 7, Harris 6) Fouls: 21. Fouled out: Barrier. Turnovers: 14.
Bishop Brossart (48) — Rowe 8, Meyers 12, M. Kramer 5, Planeaux 13, Hummel 5, Bertsch 5. 3-Pt. FG: 5 (Rowe 2, Meyers 2, Planeaux). FT: 15-20. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Rowe.