JACKSON – Slow and steady, almost won the race for Lumberton.
But in the Lady Panthers' first championship game in 67 years, Blue Mountain managed to stay ahead and defeat Lumberton 38-36 in the Class 1A State Championship on Thursday at the Mississippi Coliseum.
"We accomplished a lot, and I feel like we raised the standard of what is expected for Lumberton girls' basketball," Lumberton coach Jay Lofton said. "We kind of expect to be back here in the future."
Lumberton drastically slowed the game's tempo to keep Blue Mountain's high-scoring offense in check. The Lady Cougars averaged 57 points per game this season, and the 38 points in the title game was their lowest score all year.
"Slowing the ball down was 50% of the game plan, and the other was not giving up transition buckets," Lofton said. "Late in the fourth quarter, we turned the ball over a couple of times, and we weren't able to get our defense set. I feel like we executed to a tee."
"Pretty much every expert around predicted that this would be a 30-point win (for Blue Mountain) just looking off scores."
The Lady Panthers didn't score their first points of the game until there were two and a half minutes left in the first quarter, which ended with Blue Mountain holding an 8-7 lead.
Through the first three quarters, neither team scored in double digits. Despite the low score, the game featured nine lead changes and six ties. The score was just 14-14 at halftime, but as time dwindled in the third quarter, Blue Mountain knocked down a bucket to take a 21-19 lead.
Spearheading Lumberton's offensive was Kelsey Joseph. The senior has helped guide the program to two appearances to the Big House in the last three years and scored a team-high 13 points. As important as Joseph's offense was, her defense proved to be the biggest difference as she held Keyauna Foote, Class 1A's Miss Basketball, in check. Kali Chavis also totaled 11 points.
"She's that done for us all year," said Lofton of Joseph's performance." She's a big reason why we are here. Sometimes coaches get the credit, but it's players that get you to this point, especially guards. We rode her and relied on her a ton this season. Whatever junior college she ends up at next year will be a really lucky coach."
Lumberton knocked down a free throw and scored a bucket to start the fourth quarter, but the Lady Cougars put together a 7-0 run to jump ahead 27-22.
However, Foote's talent wasn't denied in the fourth quarter, as she finished the game with 14 points. Despite Blue Mountain's offensive surge, Joseph answered the call by scoring nine points in the game's finish stretch, including knocking down a pair of three-pointers.
With less than a minute to go, the game was tied at 34. However, Blue Mountain managed to take a one-point lead, forcing Lumberton to foul, which is what ultimately decided the game. Nayeli Galindo was called for a flagrant foul, gave the Lady Cougars a pair of free throws as the result of a technical foul, and put the game out of reach.
"We kept the game to within two and had it tied at halftime," Lofton said. "I wish we had three more minutes or one more minute. It's kind of tough how it ended with getting a flagrant foul called when we are trying to stop the clock. It's a tough way to end it like that. They are a really good team, but I feel like we are a really good team also."
D'Nashia Young was fouled with 0.2 seconds left in the game, with the score at 38-34 to put her on the free throw line and give the Lady Panthers a desperate last attempt. Young made both shots, but the Lady Panthers couldn't steal the ball to force a late and unlikely bucket.
"I don't think we had time to where we could catch a rebound and shoot it," Lofton said. "We had to make the free throw and hope for some reason that they didn't throw the ball in and try to get a tip-in."
Lumberton ends the season with a 25-7 overall record.
"Once that hurt subsides for these girls that hunger to get here and score three more points than we did tonight to win a gold ball, it will be there for them," Lofton said. "With where we are as a program and the players we have coming back, we feel like we can make a run for at least the next five years."
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