The Allatoona Lady Buccaneers coughed up a six-point lead in the game's final minute as they shouldered a disheartening 44-41 loss to East Paulding at home Friday.
East Paulding's KaBrea Thomas stole an in-bounds pass and drained a desperation 3-pointer just before the final buzzer stunned the Allatoona team, which led the game from wire to wire.
Allatoona led 41-35 after Jessica Finch's layup with just over a minute left to play in the game. But two turnovers and a missed jumpshot by Allatoona all turned into quick points on the other end.
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East Paulding's Hannah LaBrecque tied the game at 41-41 with a short jumper with under 10 second remaining. Allatoona attempted to get the ball in bounds, but the Thomas intercepted the pass near the hash mark, took a dribble to steady herself, then drained a high-arcing three-pointer as time expired to give East Paulding the improbable win.
Thomas finished with 18 points to lead all scorers.
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Allatoona scored first and led by as many as 11 points in the first half. They got balanced contribution as six players score four more points. Alexis Ezell led the way off the bench with 12 points and seven rebounds. Elise Spann added nine points for the Bucs, who fell to 3-3 for the season.
The girls will try to bounce back when they play in the Hiram Christmas tournament beginning Monday. They open with Harrison on Monday night.
(Allatoona head coach Michael Taylor was not available for comment after the game, and attempts to reach him by phone were unsuccessful.)
