Perhaps the greatest thing about scholastic athletics is the unknown. You never quite know what’s going to happen when you walk into a high school gymnasium. The match up between Lawrence and Sewanhaka figured to be a tight one, but nobody expected a game for the ages.
Junior Gabrielle Golan hit a left-handed runner from 10 feet out with 20 seconds left in overtime to lead the Golden Tornadoes to a dramatic 67-65 victory over visiting Sewanhaka in Conference A-II play. Lawrence, which trailed by 16 points in the second quarter, got 22 points, seven assists and seven steals from senior point guard Farrah Desvariuex.
Lawrence head coach George Klein was thrilled with the win. “I told the girls that this was one of the best victories I have been associated with here at Lawrence, and I have been doing this for 21 years,” Klein said, “We lost our big girl, Nicole Robinson, to a broken wrist, so we’ve been kind of filling her position by committee in practice. I had a couple of girls who stepped up huge in her spot, both on offense and defense.”
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Early in the contest, it looked like the Indians would run Lawrence off the court. Senior Megan Mullaney (19 points, 11 rebounds) hit four three-pointers in the opening quarter as Sewanhaka ran out to an 18-8 lead. The two teams would combine for 17 treys for the game.
The Indians stayed hot in the second quarter. A three from the corner from Mullaney gave Sewanhaka its biggest lead of the game at 26-10 with 5:10 remaining in the half. But, back came the Golden Tornadoes. A four-point play by sophomore Natalie Leger cut the lead to 29-19 with 2:45 left in the half.
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Lawrence trailed 33-20 at the half, but Klein was confident that his team could come back. “I told the girls at the half that if they came out and played really tough defense, we could get back in it,” he said. “Slowly but surely we did. I told them once we got it down to three or four points it was anyone’s game.”
The Golden Tornadoes came out on fire in the third quarter. A pair of threes by both Leger and Golan fueled an 18-6 run as Lawrence got within a point at 39-38. Two free throws by Mullaney gave Sewanhaka (2-2 in Conference A-II) a 45-41 as the third quarter came to a close.
The next eight minutes were electric. With Sewanhaka’s Monique Roberge (15 points) putting on a clinic in the paint, and Desvariuex wreaking havoc all over the court, the teams went at it like a pair of prizefighters. The lead changed hands seven times in the fourth quarter.
Trailing 59-58, Lawrence got possession under Sewanhaka’s basket with 12.6 seconds to play. Desvariuex threw up a desperation three that missed badly, but the Indians were whistled for a foul with just 4.4 seconds on the clock. Desvariuex hit one free throw to send the game to overtime.
In overtime, Lawrence (2-1 in league play, 3-5 overall) went ahead 65-62 thanks to some clutch baskets by senior Miriam Vainblat. A traditional three-point play by Roberge on a beautiful spin move in the lane tied the score, and set up Golan’s winning basket. Vainblat scored a career-high 11 points. Celine Jolicoeur scored 19 for Sewanhaka.
