Boyd Christian School’s Alaina Stiles hit a hook shot with 30 seconds to play to bring the Lady Broncos one bucket shy, 35-33, of the Lady Eagles in Morrison on Thursday night.
The Lady Broncos made their move by fouling Morrison’s Lia Wright hoping she would leave them some breathing room. It was not to be the case as Wright came through in the clutch and hit both foul shots, 37-33. Boyd responded as Erica Cantrell made it inside the paint for a field goal but time ran out and the Lady Eagles hung on for the win, 37-35.
“Boyd girls have a really good team this year,” said Morrison coach Kyle Cannon. “They are athletic, have size and are well coached. We played very good defense and hit some clutch free throws down the stretch and scored just enough at the right time to get the win. I’m very proud of how hard our girls worked.”
The Lady Eagles work together as a team, and present a pressing defense which is tough for opponents. In the matchup with the Lady Broncos, the game could be renamed as Gabby Monzon Night as the Lady Eagle hit for 13-of-22, or 62 percent, from the charity stripe, earned a double-double with 10 assists and 20 points scored, a game high.
Monzon did some damage from the free-throw line in the second half, scoring 6 points from converting foul shots. The Lady Eagles went 13-of-18, 62 percent as a team.
The Lady Broncos hit 4-of-8 from the charity stripe for 50 percent.
It was within a 5-point game for most of the four quarters, with both teams fighting tough all 24 minutes.
Stiles made double digits for the Lady Broncos working mainly in the paint but put up one solid trey in the third to contribute 14 points on the Boyd tally.
Also scoring for the Lady Broncos were Erica Cantrell with 9 points, Abby Blanton 6, Breanna Jones 4 and Sydney Burger was good for 2 points.
Rounding out the scoring drive for the Lady Eagles were Brielee Kelsey with 8 points, Wright with 5 and Cassie Ross and Alexis Corey both hit for 2 points.
Morrison travels to Eastside on Tuesday, Jan. 10, while the Lady Broncos will play host to Eastside on Jan. 12.