Potosi stumbles at finish line

Lutes free throw with 8 seconds left lifts Benton/Shullsburg

Senior Bridget Curtis fights through contact to grab a rebound during Potosis one-point loss at Benton/Shullsburg last Thursday night.

potosi gbb curtis — Senior Bridget Curtis fights through contact to grab a rebound during Potosis one-point loss at Benton/Shullsburg last Thursday night.

BENTON — The battle of Six Rivers West unbeatens came down to a controversial call and a made free throw.
Benton/Shullsburg, in just its second season of a co-op, was the benefactor of a late blocking call that went its way.

Shullsburg senior Blaire Lutes’ tie-breaking free throw with eight seconds left lifted the one-loss Zephyr–Miners (15–1, 5–0 SRW) to a 58–57 victory and gave the co-op a 1½ -game lead over the defending champion Chieftains (12–3, 3–1).

Potosi led throughout the first three quarters, but after a 20–9 Benton/Shullsburg run to open the fourth, needed a late comeback of its own to force a 57–57 tie.

Following a Potosi free throw and an ill-advised miss by Lutes, Potosi senior Ames tied the game with a clutch 3-pointer — her fifth of the night — with 44 seconds to play.

After running clock and taking a timeout with 16 seconds left to set up a play, Benton/Shullsburg put the ball in Lutes’ hands.

She drove hard to the basket and crashed into junior Clara White, who was whistled for a blocking foul that could have also been called a charge with just seconds to play.

“It was a bang-bang play like any block–charge call,” said Potosi head coach Brad Bierman. “My disappointment was that in the course of the game there were three of those calls and we didn’t get any of them. Of course in my opinion I think they got them all wrong.”

Lutes hit her first free throw, but missed the second to give Potosi a chance.

Potosi got the ball down the court quickly with an Ames to freshman Maddie Hawes pass, but Hawes’ five-foot runner from the left baseline as time expired was too hard.

Ames finished with a team-high 20 points to lead Potosi. Fellow senior Tiffany Langmeier added 13 for Potosi.

Benton junior Sarah Redfearn scored a game-high 22 points, including 14 in the second half, to lead the winners. Lutes added 11.

Potosi traveled to Belmont (9–7, 3–2) for yet another key conference game on Tuesday and will next travel to River Ridge on Friday before hosting Albany on Monday.

“The biggest thing for us is that we have been in this position before,” added Bierman. “Last year we lost the first conference game of the season at Belmont and came all the way back to win a share of the title. The good thing for us it that winning this year’s conference title is still in our control. Thursday didn’t go our way, but that game is over now. We have to put it behind us and move on.”

Potosi scored the first eight points of the game and led throughout the first three quarters.

Ames opened the scoring with a 3-pointer. Junior Haley Flesch and Hawes added baskets off Benton/Shullsburg to aid the run.

The Zephyr–Miners scored the next seven points, but Potosi closed the quarter on a 6–2 run.

Ames hit another triple and made a free throw to finish the quarter with seven.

The Chieftains lead danced between six and 12 points throughout the second quarter. Ames added another three, and Langmeier tallied nine points in the quarter with a pair of second-chance cutbacks and three free throws as Potosi went to the locker room with a 35–24 at the half.

Benton/Shullsburg opened second half with a 7–2 run to cut deficit to six at 37–31, but Ames hit her fourth trey of the game to push the lead back to nine.

A 3-pointer by Benton sophomore Maggie Neis less than a minute into the fourth period cut the deficit to 44–40 and brought the home crowd to life.

A 10–2 run later in the quarter gave Benton/Shullsburg its first lead of the game with 3:02 remaining.

Benton/Shullsburg 58,
Potosi 57
(from Thursday, Jan. 24 @ Benton)
Potosi 14 21 9 13 — 57
Benton/Shulls. 9 15 13 21 — 58
Potosi (13–2, 3–1) — Haley Flesch 6, Maddie Hawes 4, Clara White 5, Paige Brinkman 1, Bridget Curtis 6, Abby Ames 20, Liz Reuter 2, Tiffany Langmeier 13. Totals — 15 22-34 57.
Benton/Shullsburg (15–1, 5–0) — Brant 6, Droessler 4, Lutes 14, Redfearn 22, Neis 6, Bastian 2, Roberts 2, Morrissey 2. Totals — 17 21-32 58.
3-point goals — P: 5 (Ames 5); B/S: 3 (Lutes 1, Neis 2). Team fouls — P: 25; B/S: 23. Fouled out — none.

Six Rivers Conference

Six Rivers Conference