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C2D2 Girls: Thayer gets late steal to upset East Carter in semifinals
ELLSINORE - The East Carter offense had some difficulty at times breaking down Thayer's 2-3 zone. Other times, the Redbirds swished spot-up 3s.
But needing one last stop, Thayer tipped a pass for a steal with under 10 seconds left in the game that sealed a 48-47 win in the MSHSAA Class 2 District 2 semifinals Tuesday at Ellsinore.
"That was probably one of our best games. Especially rebound wise and not fouling," East Carter coach Angela Rodgers said. "That's what we said going in, if we rebounded, limited our fouls and limited our turnovers, then we could win this game. We did that and still came up a little short."
Third-seeded Thayer will face top-seeded Twin Rivers in the championship at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Twin Rivers.
The second-seeded Redbirds are already eyeing the future after their young roster got a lot of playing time this year.
"The last half of the season, I've been starting three juniors, a sophomore and a freshman," Rodgers said. "I'm excited. I've already told them I'm going to wake up tomorrow thinking about the summer and next year. We'll cross that bridge. We'll process it tonight and then move on. We've got good things to come."
East Carter will graduate seniors Kourtney Walker, Autumn Payne, Britney Crow and Kadence Reynolds.
Sophomore guard Brooklyn Kearbey led East Carter with 20 points, including eight in the first quarter and four 3-pointers. Honna Brown finished with 14.
"She did a great job," Thayer coach Cecil Meyer said of Kearbey. "We knew coming in she could do a lot of things, and we discussed that. It's one of those things, they to go out there and execute the gameplan. The last little bit there, and when we needed to, we buckled down and got some stops."
Down a point with a minute left in the game, Kearbey spotted up from the top of the key early in the possession and swished it.
Thayer got the ball in the halfcourt and called a timeout with 46 seconds left.
Callie Johnson, who made clutch shots in the sectionals and quarterfinals last year, in the corner for the go-ahead 3.
"When it got reversed to her, I felt comfortable with her shooting that shot," Meyer said.
Down a point once again, this time with 34 seconds left, Kearbey dribbled up the court, set up the offense.
With 10 seconds left, she drew a double team at the top of the key and tried to pass to Jordan Moore, but Thayer tipped the pass for a steal.
"That was my biggest worry (before the game), was their defense. I've watched them play quite a bit, and we struggle sometimes if we get around pressure. That's one way I can tell we've matured and gotten better this season because we handled that a lot better," Rodgers said.
With 8 seconds left and the Redbirds needing to commit four fouls to get to the bonus, they needed a turnover and tried to tip the inbounds pass with their post player in Brown.
Thayer successfully got a pair of short, low passes in, and a give-and-go burned four seconds off before East Carter could get a foul.
Out of bounds at the halfcourt, Thayer tried for a high pass toward their hoop. Moore got a finger on it, but the Bobcats were able to chase down the loose ball, and the clock expired as they dribbled toward their hoop for a layup.
"They were trying to get a shot, and we had really extended there and took the ones away that we wanted to, and they had to force it a little bit there at the end to try and get a shot up. I thought we did a great job on that last possession on defense," Meyer said.
East Carter fell behind in the early going after earning five points the first 6 minutes of a game where neither team led by double digits.
While Theyer had double up East Carter's scoring, it still just amounted to a five-point lead, and Kearbey put a dent into that with a 3 just before the 2-minute mark.
She assisted Moore and Ciara Duckett on 3-pointers, with Duckett's 3 tying the game at 20 midway through the second quarter.
Brown scored on the following possession, putting the Redbirds in front for the first time since the score was 3-2.
Katie Wade answered with a 3 for Thayer, and Brown got a putback for another lead change.
Moore added a 3 inside the final minute, putting East Carter ahead by four. After Thayer scored, East Carter had less than 2 seconds to try and get off one last shot.
The inbounds pass went to halfcourt, then a crosscourt touch pass to Kearbey. The buzzer sounded just ahead of her shot, and her halfcourt try was inches long and hit hard off the back iron.
"They got about 12 points on stuff we talked about after the game that we weren't overly happy with," Meyer said. "If you're going to win these games in districts and on, those things can't happen."
Kearbey got a 3, and Brown scored to put East Carter ahead by five midway through the third quarter, matching the game's biggest lead. Brown caught a high inbounds pass and scored and added a pair of free throws with 2 minutes left.
Marissa Weldoer made a 3 for Thayer with a minute left for its second field goal of the second half.
The Bobcats got a stop and held for the final shot. Maddy Kerley, who led Thayer with 15 points, drove and tried a jumper from the block but came up short to leave Thayer down by six entering the fourth quarter.
Thayer tied the game with 4 minutes to go when Pierce made a 3 from the wing, setting up a back and forth close.
Johnson and Maddy Donahue each had 10 points for Thayer.