Jonathan Alder senior Sydney Bourquin lets fly with a finger-roll shot that found the basket Tuesday against Cincinnati Roger Bacon. The Lady Pioneers fell, 53-51, during the Division II regional semifinals at Springfield High School. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
A last-second shot that failed to find the mark led to a disappointing finish for Jonathan Alder’s girls basketball squad Tuesday evening.
The Lady Pioneers trailed 53-51 with scant seconds to play during the Division II regional semifinal against Cincinnati Roger Bacon.
There were just 2.2 ticks left when Alder coach Steve Cawley was granted a final timeout.
“I wish I had more time to draw up a play,” he said. “In college basketball, you get three minutes.
“We only had a minute,” he sadly smiled. “We didn’t have a ‘TV’ timeout.”
The last play left the ball in the hands of a player whom folks in Pioneer Nation wanted to see.
Senior Sydney Bourquin got a good look at a three-point attempt with 0.7 ticks on the timer.
The ball, however, simply did not drop through the net.
As such, Alder walked off the court at Springfield High School with the heart-breaking, two-point setback.
The Lady Pioneers won quite a few games this season despite missing one of the most vital parts of any hoop squad … a true post player.
They relied more on four wings and a guard to lead the offense to a great deal of success.
That missing piece, however, made its presence felt against the Spartans.
The Lady Pioneers (who finished the season with a 23-4 record) had no real answer for Clarissa Craig, the Spartans’ 6-2 post player.
An under-sized Emma Shepherd (5-10) did a valiant job against Craig. The Spartan hoopster, though, scored 19 points and controlled enough of the boards to make a difference during Alder’s season-ending loss.
Even with Craig’s size advantage, Jonathan Alder not only fought back from a halftime deficit, but was in position to win the contest.
The Lady Pioneers trailed 27-22 at halftime.
The deficit rose to 30-22 early in the third period when Bacon’s Kelley Brenner swished a three-pointer.
“At that point, the girls could have given up,” said Cawley. “However, they refused to do so.”
Bourquin, who had only four points at halftime, got untracked and tallied 10 during the ensuing eight-minute quarter.
She came up with several clutch shots as JA began to chip away at the Spartans’ lead.
Mary Ferrito blew past Craig for a basket that gave Alder a 37-36 lead with slightly less than three minutes left in the third period.
Bourqin later dribbled around Ferrito’s screen for a trifecta that pushed Jonathan Alder out to a 43-40 margin.
Craig, though, sank a charity toss to bring Roger Bacon (20-7) back to within 43-41 by the end of the stanza.
The final eight minutes of action were not for the faint of heart for either Pioneer or Spartan Nations.
Jonathan Alder maintained three-point leads for several minutes.
Alder stretched its margin to 48-43 on a basket by Bourquin.
The Lady Pioneers, however, couldn’t deliver the knockout punch as the Spartans had second and even third scoring opportunities by controlling the offensive glass.
Craig got a lob entry pass for a basket that sliced a pair of points off Bacon’s deficit.
After several exchanges in possession, Brenner proved once again deadly from beyond the arc.
Her trifecta with 2:12 left pulled the battle into a 48-all stalemate.
Abby Jones’ stickback gave JA a 50-48 edge as the timer sped past the two-minute mark.
The Spartans missed an ensuing shot and the Lady Pioneers grabbed the rebound.
Alder worked the clock and Roger Bacon allowed a good deal of time to elapse before fouling Bourquin.
The Lady Pioneers were in the bonus with 33.7 seconds to play when she was sent to the charity stripe.
She made the first free throw for a 51-48 lead.
The second offering, after a Spartan timeout, failed to hit the mark.
Craig scored on the other end of the floor after grabbing an offensive rebound. That pulled Roger Bacon to within 51-50.
The team from Hamilton County then signaled for a full timeout with 21.1 seconds to play.
JA was once again sent to the charity stripe for the one-and-bonus once play resumed.
Ferrito couldn’t get the first offering to fall.
The Spartans rebounded the ball and raced the other direction.
Brenner, who was a thorn several times in JA’s side from the outside, was right on the money with a three-ball that gave the Spartans their 53-51 lead.
The Lady Pioneers called a full timeout and then another once they hurried the ball over the timeline.
The clock flashed 0.7 seconds when Bourquin let fly with the three-point offering that could have won the game.
The shot, though, went awry at the horn.
“Sydney is one of the players we would have wanted to have the ball at that point in the game,” said Cawley.
The Pioneer bench boss said the second-half rally was strong after a first half in which his squad perhaps had its most struggles of the season.
After going up 8-2 on a trifecta from Jones, JA went cold as the Spartans tied the game at 12-12 by the end of the opening quarter.
Cawley noted his team missed several key shots and had turnovers during the second quarter, which allowed Roger Bacon to jump out to its 27-22 advantage at the turn.
“We told the girls at halftime we were right there,” said Cawley. “We just needed to play help side defense against Craig better in the second half and I think we did that.
“We battled hard during the second half.”
Cawley was asked what he told the Lady Pioneers after the game.
“I said that last Thursday (when JA beat River Valley for the district championship) we experienced the joy of sports,” he said. “Tonight, we experienced the low of sports and that’s the way life goes.
“I also told them, though, I’d go into battle any day with this team.”
Roger Bacon
Craig 8-3-19, Brenner 4-0-11, Harris 2-6-10, Shepherd 3-2-9, McWorter 1-0-2, Walker 0-2-2. Totals 18-13-53.
Three-point goals: Brenner 3, Shepherd 1.
Jonathan Alder
Jones 8-0-18, Bourquin 7-1-17, Ferrito 3-0-6, Walbom 1-2-4, Shepherd 1-0-3, Zawodny 1-0-3, Wilson 0-0-0. Totals 21-3-51.
Three-point goals: Jones 2, Bourquin 2, Shepherd 1, Zawodny 1.
JA’s Melissa Walbom grimaces as she drive to the basket at Springfield High School on Tuesday. The Lady Pioneers fell to Cincinnati Roger Bacons, 53-51, during the Division II regional semifinals. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)