By CHARLES PENDELL
charles.pendell@mcleansborotimesleader.com
McLEANSBORO — In their biggest game of the season, Hamilton County’s Junior Lady Foxes pushed aside first-half jitters, calming their nerves just in time in the fourth quarter to overtake second-seeded Benton 43-40 in the McLeansboro Class L Regional on Saturday.
Coach Robert Crow’s troops improved their season mark to 22-1 and with the regional championship extended their winning streak to 12 in a row.
“They responded really well,” Crow said of his players. “I challenged them at the half. I told them they had been in this position before. We were down nine at Carterville and came back and battled and won. I told them that it was still their game to win. Benton has it and we had to get it back. They accepted the challenge and came back and played extremely well.”
In the second half, Lady Fox playmaker Lucendia Adams took the team on her shoulders, scoring 17 of her game-high 20 points in the final two quarters.
“Lucendia has played so well for the past four or five weeks, and she has been the difference in a couple of games,” Crow said, “and today her ability to hit the three and her free throws at the end were amazing.”
The Lady Kits led 11-10 after one quarter, and the second quarter had the teams battling for the lead. Benton took advantage of the Lady Foxes’ foul trouble, stepping to the free throw line and canning six in a row to move out to a 19-15 lead with 51 seconds left in the first half; a free throw by Lady Fox seventh-grader Dana Rubenacker trimmed the margin to three at the half.
Adams scored nine points in the third quarter, which ended with the Rangerettes still on top 33-31. Adams got the Fox crowd on their feet with a trey and then an 18-footer with 10 seconds left in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Adams zeroed in on back-to-back treys to catapult the Lady Foxes out to a 37-33 advantage with 3:54 left. Benton cut it to 37-34 with a free throw, but Jordan Scrivner added one to bump the lead back to 38-34 with 2:46 remaining.
Four straight free throws by Benton tied the game at 38, and the Rangerettes scored again on a breakaway layup to move ahead 40-38 with 1:24 left.
Dana Rubenacker tied the game on an off-balance shot, and the Lady Fox defense caused Benton to turn the ball over with 30 seconds left. Benton had to foul, sending Adams to the line, and she calmly swished both tries, putting the Foxes up 42-40 with 27.8 seconds showing.
Leah Haeuber then picked up a steal and was fouled with 12.5 seconds left. Haeuber missed the first free throw but got the second one to drop, giving the Foxes the three-point victory and Class L Regional title.
York chipped in six points for the Lady Foxes, Scrivner scored five, Haeuber, Dana Rubenacker and Megan Rubenacker three each, Erin Bonner two and Kaitlynn Campbell 1.
“I have a group of great kids,” Crow said. “Every one of them are great kids, and it makes it easier to coach. They are a pleasure to be around.”
And the big crowd helps, too, he said.
“The bigger the crowd, the better we play,” Crow said. “We get energized from the crowd. I think it feeds us and it gives us energy, so the bigger the crowd, the better off we are."
Lady Foxes 41, Johnston City 18
The Lady Foxes opened the Class L Regional on Jan. 14, taking on Johnston City for the fourth time this season. The result was the same, as the girls in green smothered the Lady Indians 41-18.
Adams led the Lady Foxes with 13 points. Scrivner added eight, Megan Rubenacker seven, Alicia York five, Haeuber four, and Campbell and Dana Rubenacker two each.
Lady Foxes 54, Zeigler 14
In their last regular-season game Jan. 12, the Lady Junior Foxes blasted out to a 30-0 lead on the way to a 54-14 rout.
Scrivner and York led the Fox pack with 16 points each. Adams added nine, Campbell four, Nicole Rubenacker, Haeuber, Bonner and Shelby Baylor two each and Mackensie Adams one.
