BLACKSVILLE — Clay-Battelle’s Liv Ammons knew she was running out of time, but a quick glance at the scoreboard showed just how little time she actually had left in Saturday night’s sectional quarterfinal against Trinity.
“I just saw 0.-something and I thought, ‘Uh oh,’ ” Ammons said. “I knew I better shoot it so I went up there and made it.”
Ammons’ offensive rebound and put-back gave the Cee-Bees a 35-34 lead as time expired, sending an electric home crowd into a frenzy as they knocked off their county rivals. The win pushes C-B to the Region II, Section 1 semifinals against top seed Gilmer County, while Trinity’s loss ends the Warriors’ season.
It was far from a pretty offensive night for either team, especially early. The Cee-Bees (14-9) only scored 10 first half points, while Trinity was able to score 15 for a 5-point lead heading into the locker room.
After the Warriors (12-12) scored the first four points of the second half, the Cee-Bees woke up, going on an 11-2 run to end third quarter to knot the score at 21-21.
“You can see that we have a bad half every now and then, and that was our first half tonight, unfortunately,” C-B coach David Joyce said. “We aren’t typically able to break a press, but we were able to get out of a couple there, set up our offense, which meant their defense was out of position.”
The fourth quarter was back-and-forth with neither team able to build a lead larger than three points. It wasn’t without controversy as an official blew his whistle but didn’t grant Clay-Battelle a timeout as Trinity forced a turnover at midcourt and ran down for an lay-up to give the Warriors the lead.
Costly turnovers on inbounds passes down the stretch ended up being what doomed the Warriors. Coach Mike Baldy had a timeout in his pocket and regretted not using it before the final possession.
“I feel especially bummed out because I should have called a timeout out there with four seconds left,” he said. “Instead, I let them run the same play. I don’t know what I was holding that timeout for, but I let the girls down then. It sucks to know that happened when I know they worked their tails off for our program this season.”
With no seniors on the team, though, the Warriors are primed to have an experienced group back next year, led by Jaclyn Smith, Liv Austin and Maggie Mercure. Smith led Trinity with 15 points to lead all scorers.
Ammons’ winning bucket was her 11th and 12th points on the night to lead the Cee-Bees. They will tip-off at Gilmer County at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
“We’re just a strong team that has been through a lot and I knew we could get through it,” Ammons said.
Trinity (12-12)
Smith 6 0-1 15; Austin 3 1-1 7; White 0 1-2 1; Mercure 3 2-2 9; Pancoast 0 0-0 0; Hyde 0 0-0 0; Koontz 1 0-1 2. Totals: 13 4-7 34.
Clay-Battelle (14-9)
Wilson 1 0-0 2; Watson 4 0-0 8; Ammons 5 2-2 12; Stewart 3 0-2 6; Sollars 2 0-2 5; Saul 1 0-0 2; Cain 0 0-0 0; Darling 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 2-6 35.
Trinity7 8 6 13 – 34
C-B 6 4 11 14 – 35
3-pointers: TCS 4 (Smith 3, Mercure); C-B 1 (Sollars).
