Last second shot steals fifth place from girls team

Chronicle Staff

Published: Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

  Monica Whiting hit a 15-foot fling over two Wildcat defenders as time expired to give the White River Tigers a 50-49 win over the Custer Wildcat girls basketball team last Saturday morning in the fifth place game of the Lakota Nation Invitational basketball tournament. Head coach Paul Anderson knew who was going to get the ball. All of the Custer Wildcats on the floor knew who was going to get the ball. More than likely, the 50 or so people in attendance at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center for the 8 a.m. game knew who was going to get the ball. Whiting had been a thorn in the ’Cats’ side all game, scoring 22 points, including the crucial last two that gave the Tigers the win. “She is a heck of a player,” Anderson said. “We knew exactly who was going to get the ball. We had what we wanted. We had her double teamed. She was stuck. We had it defended as well as we could have. But, she’s a good player. Good players make good plays.” The shot negated what had been an impressive comeback by the ’Cats, who trailed most of the game. White River came out in a 2-3 zone, daring Custer to shoot from the outside. The Wildcats did just that, but missed on their first 13 attempts from three point range. After falling behind 9-3, Taava Cooper hit a pair of free throws and Breezy Boldon drove and hit a pull up jump shot to get Custer back within two at 9-7. Whiting scored the next four points for White River, while Custer got going from behind the arc, thanks in large part to Sam Harrison. Harrison came off the bench to nail three straight three-pointers and keep Custer in the game. “She’s one of our good perimeter shooters,” Anderson said. “We’ve got some good shooters. From game to game, you don’t know who is going to be on.” A Shawna Gibson putback of an Ariel Cisneros miss tied the game at 24-24, and Gibson gave Custer the lead heading into the half on the team’s next possession when she made another basket inside. Gibson had 19 points and 10 rebounds in the game, and was also named to the All-Tournament team. The Wildcats continued to pound the ball inside at the outset of the second half, and built up a 36-31 lead after Gibson scored again inside off an assist from Cooper. A few minutes later Custer was down five however, after Whiting stole a Custer pass and turned it into a score. Four Gibson free throws cut the lead to one with 39 seconds left, and Melissa Flores tied the score with two more free throws with under 30 seconds to go. The Wildcats showed marked improvement in free throw shooting in the game, connecting on 14 of 22 attempts. The Wildcats took their last lead shortly thereafter, forcing a White River turnover with their press. Gibson took the steal and went to the basket, and was fouled. She hit one of the free trows with 2.9 seconds left on the clock, setting off Whiting’s heroics. “It’s always difficult to lose a game like that,” Anderson said. “We made a nice comeback. It makes it difficult when you work that hard to get back into it. But we have to keep it in perspective. It was only our fifth game of the season. We have shown a lot of improvement since the first game.” In the semifinals, the Wildcats used a balanced scoring attack to edge the Todd County Falcons 57-53. The game was back-and-forth throughout, with neither team able to build up more than a four or five point lead. Boldon, only a freshman, came off the bench to lead Custer in scoring, pouring in 18 points. Flores added 15, while Gibson chipped in 12. The second round of the tournament saw Custer take on Red Cloud. Plagued by another night of poor shooting, the Wildcats fell to the Crusaders 45-38. The Wildcats handled the Crusader press well, getting easy baskets at the outset of the game. When the Crusaders got out of the press and went to a half court trap the Wildcats struggled initially, but eventually did a good job of finding open scoring options after making some adjustments. The team could muster only a 20 percent shooting performance however, which was eventually its undoing. The ’Cats were only 11-29 from the free throw line in the game, as well. Cooper was the only Wildcat to reach double figures, scoring 11. Boldon and Cisneros both chipped in seven. Crow Creek was the team’s opening round opponent. After trailing most of the game, the Wildcats pulled ahead when it mattered most, coming away with a 57-53 win. “We turned the ball over,” Anderson said. “It was somewhat an extension of the Douglas game.” After struggling earlier, Anderson went to a smaller, quicker lineup and pressed Crow Creek. The adjustment worked, as the Wildcats forced turnovers and got its offense going enough to switch momentum and take control of the game. Gibson had another big game, leading the team in scoring with 19 points. Cooper added 15. After watching his team go 2-2 in the tournament, Anderson said he was pleased with the improvement he saw since the beginning of the season. “We showed quite a bit of improvement,” he said. “For some of the girls, it’s just a matter of getting some experience. Our focus will continue to be to try to improve upon where we are.” The team is off until Jan. 3, when it travels to Belle Fourche. The game is scheduled for 3  p.m.