Realistically, Samm Jett probably didn’t think her half-court heave at the buzzer had much of a shot of finding the net.
But the North Central guard probably didn’t expect to get as much contact as she got on the shot attempt or that the referee would call a foul on a half-court shot at the buzzer of a tied game.
The whistle sounded, however, quickly quieting cheers from the Kansas City, KS fans who thought they had just held off an upset-minded North Central squad. Jett made good at the charity stripe, knocking down all three of her free throws with 0.3 seconds showing on the scoreboard clock.
The wild ending completed an even wilder comeback for the Pirates, who upset KCKCC – ranked 11th in the nation – 79-76 on Wednesday night on the road.
North Central trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half and was behind 62-49 entering the fourth quarter. But, the Pirates began chipping away in the final frame. A horrifying 10 minutes for the home squad that suddenly had an inability to stop the rallying visitors.
When the dust settled, Jett’s free throws capped a 30-point quarter for the Pirates, who outscored KCKCC by 16 points over the game’s final 10 minutes.
“These girls don’t quit,” Pirates’ Head Coach Jenni Croy said. “Our defense stepped up in the fourth quarter. We had good ball pressure and great help-side defense and we were able to turn steals into scores. We took care of business on the free throw line. It’s a great win for these girls.”
Kendey Eaton led the Pirates with 17 points and three assists. Jett added 15 points and four steals and Madison Gonseth had 15 points as well, in addition to pulling down seven rebounds. Whitley Richman reached double figures with 14 points and secured seven rebounds as well. Nicole Kost had five assists and three steals.
The win was the eighth in a row for the Pirates since starting the season 1-2 and moved North Central to 9-2 overall.
UP NEXT
North Central will play host to the William Penn junior varsity on Saturday at the Ketcham Community Center in Trenton. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
The Pirates will travel to Florida next week, taking on Indian River State College on Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Miami Dade College on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
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