Andy Amey
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE — The Vigo County seventh-grade girls championship game Thursday night at Terre Haute South might not have been the most artistic either team had ever played. A glance at the free throw percentages would be one clue in that regard.
But it made up for that in sheer dramatics, Honey Creek staging a miraculous comeback to win 24-23 in overtime over Woodrow Wilson.
That made it a split for the night for the two schools. In the sixth-grade game earlier, Woodrow Wilson throttled a Honey Creek comeback late and pulled away for a 31-21 win.
The comebacks and the dramatics were nothing unexpected; both pairs of teams had split in regular-season play. And if there was a lack of artistry, maybe that could be chalked up to the rivalry too.
“Every time we play [the Warriors] that’s how it is,” coach Dustin Speth of the Honey Creek seventh-graders said as his team cut down the nets.
The Bees seemed to have the game under control for almost 18 minutes, holding the Warriors — sixth-grade champs a year ago — scoreless in the first quarter and leading until a basket by Wilson reserve Paxton Granda with one second left in the third quarter put Wilson ahead 12-11.
Then it was the Warriors who had the game in hand, building the lead to 19-13 until the game’s final minute.
Honey Creek regained the ball after a basket by Lindley Higham had cut the lead to 19-15, but the Warriors stole it back. Wilson missed two free throws, but got the ball back as the final seconds ticked down.
But with 14 seconds left, Eleanor Carre stole it and made a layup. To prove it was no fluke, she stole the ball again and drove for another layup with two seconds left that forced overtime.
Woodrow Wilson led most of the extra period too, 23-20 with less than 90 seconds to play, but Carre made another basket and Kayla Speth scored a driving layup with 20 seconds to go that put the Bees on top. Honey Creek missed two free throws that could have clinched it, and Wilson had the ball out of bounds with eight seconds left needing to go the length of the court.
The Warriors did, of course, with the game’s leading scorer Lauren Rowley getting ahead of every Honey Creek defender but Higham. Higham is 6-foot-2, however — more than a foot taller than Rowley — and influenced the shot enough to be able to grab the defensive rebound as time ran out.
Only three Bees scored — Speth with nine, Carre with eight and Higham with seven. Higham grabbed 16 rebounds and Kelsey Gormong had 12 boards.
And Carre’s heroics, coach Speth said, were nothing the Warriors shouldn’t have expected.
“When we beat [Woodrow Wilson in the regular season], she made four free throws in the last 10 seconds and had a steal to seal it,” he said.
Rowley had 14 points and an incredible 13 steals for Woodrow Wilson.
“It could have gone either way,” said coach Jennifer Hall of the Warriors. “All the girls who played out there played their hearts out.
“Free throws killed us, they absolutely killed us,” Hall continued, “but I can’t fault the effort. There were great fans, great support from the schools … Honey Creek just wanted it.”
The sixth-grade game was pretty much in Woodrow Wilson’s hands for more than three quarters, since Honey Creek could neither make shots nor rebound the misses. The score was 22-10 as the midpoint of the fourth quarter approached.
Then the ball started dropping for the Bees. Ali Danielson hit a 3-pointer, Riley Davis hit two of them, and Davis stole the ball to set up two free throws by Danielson that cut the lead to 24-21.
But Honey Creek’s rebounding woes were impossible to overcome. The Warriors went to the foul line, made one of two, rebounded the second and got fouled, made one of two, and scored with the rebound of that miss. Now the score was 28-21 and time had run out on the Honey Creek comeback.
“Their shots were off, but they didn’t quit,” coach Rick Menestrina of Honey Creek said of his team. “We didn’t block out tonight like we usually do.
“But when they were down, they never put their heads down. They got back in the game and had opportunities … a great group of girls.”
“Honey Creek is always tough,” said coach Kelly Layne of the winning Warriors. “They always change things up and surprise us. But this was the best game my girls have played all year; I couldn’t have asked for a better game.”
Lauren Perrelle scored nine points, Torri Brewer eight, Alexis Shannon seven and Valerie Lewis six for Woodrow Wilson, with Shannon grabbing 16 rebounds. Davis had nine points and Danielson eight for the Bees.
Sixth-grade game
WOODROW WILSON (31) — Babb 0 1-2 1, Shannon 2 3-10 7, Lewis 3 0-1 6, Perrelle 4 1-2 9, Brewer 3 2-5 8, Egan 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 FG, 7-20 FT, 31 TP.
HONEY CREEK (21) — Hambrock 1 2-2 4, Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Davis 2 3-4 9, Danielson 2 2-2 8, Hubbard 0 0-0 0, Bell 0 0-0 0. Totals 5 FG, 7-8 FT, 21 TP.
Woodrow Wilson 4 6 6 15 — 31
Honey Creek 1 2 5 13 — 21
3-point goals — Davis 2, Danielson. Total fouls — WW 7, HC 14. Fouled out — Davis. Rebounds — WW 36 (Shannon 16), HC 21 (Hambrock 5). Assists — WW 8 (Brewer 4), HC 4 (Hubbard 2). Steals — WW 8 (Babb 4), HC 13 (Davis 4, Danielson 4). Blocks — WW 5 (Shannon 2, Perrelle 2), HC 3 (Sullivan 2).
Records — Woodrow Wilson finished 15-1, Honey Creek 13-2.
Seventh-grade game
WOODROW WILSON (23) — Crick 2 0-2 4, Sappington 0 0-4 0, Eberle 0 0-2 0, Lucas 1 1-2 3, Rowley 7 0-2 14, Black 0 0-0 0, Granda 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 FG, 1-13 FT, 23 TP.
HONEY CREEK (24) — Gormong 0 0-0 0, Wood 0 0-3 0, Higham 2 3-7 7, Carre 4 0-2 8, Speth 4 1-2 9, Swain 0 0-0 0, Sollars 0 0-0 0, Araiza 0 0-0 0, Stout 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 FG, 4-19 FT, 24 TP.
Woodrow Wilson 0 4 8 7 4 — 23
Honey Creek 6 2 3 8 5 — 24
3-point goals — none. Total fouls — WW 17, HC 13. Fouled out — none. Rebounds — WW 32 (Crick 7, Eberle 7), HC 43 (Higham 16, Gormong 12). Assists — WW7 (Eberle 3), HC 4 (Wood 2). Steals — WW 22 (Rowley 13), HC 16 (Gormong 4, Wood 4, Carre 4). Blocks — WW 6 (Granda 3), HC 5 (Higham 3).
Records — Honey Creek finished 16-3, Woodrow Wilson 13-3.
