Seniors respond

Huddled in front of their bench, Smith-Cotton’s quintet of teary-eyed seniors and coach Chris Parsons shared a second to reflect on the group’s final home game.

It was a memorable one.

Cristian Sharp scored a game-high 19 points, and Andi Rea (8) and Whitney Pollitt (14) combined for 22 rebounds and 11 points.

Megan Beykirch knocked down a few clutch few throws in the waning seconds, and Meagan Klein played her first minute of the year in S-C’s come-from-behind 47-43 win over St. Pius X on senior night Tuesday at the Smith-Cotton gymnasium.

“(That’s) what the seniors are known for,” Parsons said. “Beykirch’s going to step up and hit the free throws. We know Cristian’s going to get her points if we get her open. We know Whitney and Andi are going to tear down rebounds plus score a little bit here and there.  

“Every one of those seniors did what they had to do tonight and that’s the reason you’ve seen them go from two wins as freshmen to 15 as seniors, because those guys have learned what it’s all about and have put their heart and soul into the game. We’re going to miss those girls, but we’re not done yet.”

The win, however, was in doubt in the early going after a dreadful first half.

Honored with a pregame ceremony, banners adorning the walkways above the backboards and commemorative collages at the gyms’ entrance, the seniors came out flat.

Running a stagnant, mistake-prone offense, the Lady Tigers committed nine turnovers and shot just 5 of 17 (29 percent) from the floor on their way to an 18-15 deficit heading into the locker room.

“Fifteen points at halftime is unacceptable,” Parsons said. “We just stood there and watched that ball and we knew we were a better team than that. That’s not Smith-Cotton basketball. That’s not the way they’ve been taught.

“We told those seniors, you have two quarters and if that’s the way you want to go out, that was their choice. But they decided to get down, get after it. Offensively we started to attack the basket and good defense turned into points for us and those seniors deserved that tonight.”

After forcing the ball into the post, failing to set screens and make back-door cuts, the Lady Tigers picked up the hustle.

After an opening 3-pointer from Hilary Torres stretched the lead to 21-15, Sharp knocked down back-to-back buckets, Rea provided two straight baskets in the post and Tanaeia Smith added a layup to fuel an 11-5 run to knot the score at 26 at the 2-minute mark.

Aided by two of Smith’s six assists, Sharp followed up with two more baskets to cap off a 10-point quarter for the senior guard.

Pollitt and Smith ended the third with back-to-back baskets in the post to give the Lady Tigers a 35-28 advantage heading into the fourth quarter after a 9-2 run.

The Lady Tigers, though, needed to fend off a late rally for the win. After a Sharp 3-pointer and three free throws from Beykirch, the lead remained at double digits until a 7-0 run by the Warriors cut the advantage to 42-38.

A drive by Sharp extended the lead to six, but a jumper from Torres and a 3-pointer from Paige Messina cut lead to two with less than 35 seconds to play.

St. Pius, however, was called for a technical foul after using a timeout it didn’t possess, and two late free throws from Sharp and Rea secured the win.