Lady Colts Collapse in Final Minute Against Freeport

The Calhoun Lady Colts and Freeport Red Devils played each other to a 31-31 standstill through 31.5 out of 32 minutes of play last Friday at Freeport High School. 

But that changed with less than a minute to go when Freeport guard LaTashia Morris took over the game.  Morris spun through the lane on a dribble drive to nail a layup, putting the Red Devils (3-9) up 33-31.

Calhoun could not score on its next position and was forced to foul twice, putting Morris at the line for four free throws.  She hit three of them to ice the game, scoring 19 on the day, and Calhoun (3-5) did not score again, losing 36-31.   

"We just didn't make a couple of layups," Calhoun coach Dave Radtke said.  "We missed like four layups in the last two minutes.  That was a hard one."

Freeport coach Meredith Jones was pleased with her team's performance.

"That was one of the best games we've played," she said.

Calhoun started the game off with a 3-0 lead after a layup and a free throw by center Meghan O'Sullivan.  But the Red Devils then went on a 6-0 run led by  sophomore guard Monique Jones and Morris.

Jones reminded her team throughout the first half to box out better against O'Sullivan, the tallest player on the floor. 

"A lot of it was her forcing out [of the paint]," Jones said.  "We must have given up eight or 10 points because of that.  Boxing out is key for us."

The Colts had many second chance opportunities under the basket as a result of poor defensive rebounding by the Red Devils.

After these runs, the teams settled into a groove where they stayed within two baskets of each other.  Freeport led 13-11 after the first quarter with strong play from their guards, but O'Sullivan anchored the paint in the second quarter and led the team to a 21-20 halftime lead.

Though neither team excelled at perimeter shooting, both the first and the second quarters ended in successful half-court heaves, one by each team.  Both three-pointers put the scorer's team up to end the quarter. 

Freeport's Monique Jones, who finished with 12 points, hit her shot as time expired in the first quarter, and Calhoun's Ellie Rosenblum scored her only points of the game on a toss at the end of the second.

Freeport ran its offense through its guards, Morris and Jones, who combined for 31 of the team's 36 points by consistently driving through the lane and drawing shooting fouls.

Calhoun used the size of O'Sullivan, who scored a game-high 20 points, below to pound the ball into the paint for easy shots and rebounds.  On occasion, O'Sullivan would swing out to the high post and run the offense from there, allowing forward Jessica Ruggiero to score seven points down low.

O'Sullivan missed several layups in the final two minutes, including two on one play, and Freeport recovered the ball and finished the game through Morris.

"You're going to have good games; you're going to have bad games," Radtke said of O'Sullivan.  "She's just got to keep her head and up and keep going."

The Lady Colts host Plainview on Friday at 4:30 p.m.