After allowing the Aurora Lady Houns to rally late in the fourth quarter to force overtime, Rita Santillan scored all five of McDonald County's points in overtime to lead the Lady Mustangs to a 48-45 win on Jan. 10 at MCHS.
Chloe Ryan tied the game at 43-43 with 6.6 seconds left in regulation when she made two of three free throws after she was fouled shooting a three-pointer that would have tied the game.
Santillan opened the scoring in overtime when she hit a layup after Sydney Killion got a steal and hit the wide-open senior guard underneath the Lady Mustang basket.
Aurora tied the game at 45-45 with 1:35 left on a basket by Ellie Creusey before Santillan put McDonald County ahead for good with a short jumper with 50 seconds left.
After an Aurora turnover, Santillan made one of two free throws to put McDonald County ahead 48-45 with 9.7 seconds left.
Creusey had one last chance to force a second overtime, but Santillan got a hand on the last-second shot to clinch the win.
"We played very well situationally at times," said coach Chris Kennedy. "But in some situations that we hadn't been in we didn't do a good job. The girls are learning to play competitive basketball and keep the games close to have a chance to win."
McDonald County opened the fourth quarter with a 29-28 lead, but Aurora scored six straight points to take a 34-29 lead. Santillan and Jaylie Sanny got back-to-back baskets to cut the lead to one with 4:43 left.
Aurora's Elizabeth Martin then made one of two free throws before Killion tied the game with 3:19 left in regulation.
McDonald County then jumped into a man-to-man press and scored four quick points off three steals for a 39-35 lead with 2:45 remaining.
Creusey and Santillan traded two free throws over the next two minutes, with Santillan giving McDonald County a 41-37 lead with less than a minute to go. But Aurora hit four consecutive free throws to tie the game at 41-41 with 21.2 seconds left.
Kristin Penn then got loose for a layup with 15 seconds, only to see Ryan tie the game in the final seconds.
"We were switching back-and-forth from zone to man and doing some trapping and it got us a little run," Kennedy said. "We had some sophomores step up in the third quarter and I told them their baskets mattered just as much as the last one. It was just a very good team win, probably one of our better ones even going back to last year."
The teams were tied 10-10 at the end of the first quarter before Aurora took a 20-19 lead at halftime.
Santillan scored 14 points, Penn had nine and Sanny eight to lead McDonald County. Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Mustangs were Killion and Samara Smith with four points each, Caitlyn Barton three and Wilson, Kloe Myers and Abby Wiseman two each.
Aurora's Creusey finished with 22 points to lead all scorers.
McDonald County improves to 4-7 heading into its Jan. 17 game at Seneca.
McDonald County made it a sweep with a 46-20 win in the junior varsity game.
Samara Smith scored 12 points, while Adaysn Leach and Myers both had 11 to lead McDonald County. Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Mustangs were Megan Elwood and Wiseman with four points each and Sosha Howard and Ebennee Munoz with two each.
Springfield Hillcrest
Hillcrest outscored McDonald County, 18-12, in the fourth quarter to claim a 55-50 decision on Jan. 7 at Hillcrest High School in Springfield.
McDonald County jumped out to a 13-8 lead at the end of the first quarter before the Hillcrest used a 17-10 advantage in the second to take a 25-23 lead at intermission.
McDonald County rallied in the third to go ahead, 38-37, heading into the fourth quarter.
Santillan scored 14 points and Penn 10 to lead the Lady Mustangs, followed by Wilson with nine points, Killion with eight, Smith four, Alexia Estrada three and Sanny two.
Mariah Robinson scored 24 points to lead Hillcrest.
McDonald County earned a 36-22 win in the junior varsity game.
Myers led McDonald County with 11 points, followed by Smith with seven, Leach six, and Elwood, Wiseman and Munoz four each.
Sports on 01/16/2020