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A three-point, game-tying buzzer beater propelled the Franklin High School Lady Warriors basketball team to a 55-49 come-from-behind overtime victory over Hunterdon Central High School on February 17.
The buzzer-beating heroics by senior Erica Jackson tied the game at 43 and capped an almost improbable comeback by the Lady Warriors, who trailed the entire game.
That deficit reached as many as 12 points during the second half, with the Lady Warriors not being able to buy a basket against an insanely hot-shooting Red Raiders team.
Hunterdon Central jumped out to an early start with two quick three-pointers in the first minute. Successful free throws gave the Red Raiders an 8-0 lead before freshman Iyanna Cotton sank two free throws of her own to put the Lady Warriors on the board.
Senior Morgan Jones powered in with a layup to cut the Red Raiders’ lead to 8-4, but the visitors put together two more baskets to increase their lead to 12-4.
Jackson scored on a putback, then junior Christina Midgette brought the Lady Warriors to within 12-9 with a basket and an and-one conversion with 7:22 left in the second period.
Hunterdon ticked in five more points before Midgette put the Lady Warriors in double-digits with a short jumper.
With 3:20 left in the first half, Midgette sinks two free throws to bring teh Lady Warriors to within eight points, 21-13.
Hunterdon added two more points to their lead before Midgette picked up a blocked shot, took it coast to coast and brought the Lady Warriors to 23-15.
Both teams hit the lockers with Hunterdon leading 25-17 after Kyierah Dempsey-Toney scored after being fed by Midgette.
The Lady Warriors chased Hunterdon for most of the second half, until, with 3:53 left in the game, Midgette brought Franklin to within two points, 37-35, and Dempsey-Toney tied it at 37 with a little more than three minutes left in the game.
Hunterdon managed to increase their lead to 40-38 when a technical call against Lady Warriors Head Coach Audrey Taylor gave them another point.
With 4.7 seconds left in the game and the Lady Warriors now down 43-40, senior Morgan Jones too the ball in and quickly passed it off to Jackson, who made the game-saving three-pointer.
The Lady Warriors scored 12 points in the overtime, led by Midgette’s six points at the free-throw line.
Jackson and Dempsey-Toney also contributed to the overtime scoring.
For the second consecutive night, Midgette led all scorers, this time with 25 points.
Dempsey-Toney scored 12 points in the winning effort.
Jackson scored eight points, and Tiffany Pecorella and Jones each had four points.
Cotton contributed two points to the win.
Taylor attributed the win to the team not getting emotional over missed baskets, and “staying committed to the defense.”
“They had to stay committed to the defense, make the stops,” she said. “A lot of shots just didn’t drop for us.”
“You have to play through it, you can’t get emotional about missed shots, they just played through it,” she said.
While certain players made some big plays, Taylor said she considered the victory a team win.
“(Midgette) hitting those free-throws for us was great, she carried us with that, but honestly today was a great team win, with everybody contributing all around,” she said.
“I’ve been coaching a long time, I don’t get caught up in losses and I don’t get caught up in wins, I get caught up in our growth,” Taylor said. “So I like to get better with each game, and today we got better.”
Following are some scenes from the game:
