Grandview hands Bees first loss in back-and-forth thriller

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By BRAD KEITH

TheFlashToday.com

Sport: STEPHENVILLE (December 9, 2014) — Stephenville’s girls fell from the ranks of the unbeatens when Haley Roberts’ only points of the game lifted Grandview to a 39-38 win at Gandy Gym Tuesday evening.

Roberts banked a straightaway 12 footer off the glass and in with 6.7 seconds remaining and Stephenville couldn’t connect on a left-corner 3-point attempt as time expired.

Lyndi Graham took an assist from Cassidy Cline and hit a go-ahead runner with 1:10 remaining for Stephenville, and Grandview was called for traveling with 47 seconds left.

Lyndi Graham and Bayleigh Chaviers
Lyndi Graham and Bayleigh Chaviers

The Honeybees played keep away as Grandview had to foul four times to put them in the bonus, and when they did, Stephenville missed the front end of the 1-and-1 with 18 seconds to play.

Grandview took the rebound and was trying to get the ball to Emily Sullivan, who had 17 points including nine in the fourth. But with close attention being paid to Sullivan, Roberts got an open look and made the Bees pay.

Stephenville had to fight off a six-point third quarter deficit that seemed much larger at the time because both teams exhibited menacing defensive play and neither was consistent offensively.

Kali Smith sandwiched a pair of last-minute 3-pointers around a Grandview bucket, cutting it to 26-23 by the end of the third.

Grandview led by five in the opening moments of the fourth, but Graham and Cline responded with back-to-back 3-pointers for a 29-28 advantage, then Graham drilled a left baseline jumper for a 31-28 edge with 5:08 left.

Sullivan ripped the chords of the net from long range for Grandview’s sixth and final 3-pointer, evening the score at 31-31.

A Cline free throw gave the Bees a one-point lead before seven lead changes in the final four minutes.

Cassidy Cline and Breanna Wooley
Cassidy Cline and Breanna Wooley

Grandview led after a Sullivan layup, and the Bees jumped in front 34-33 on a short jumper by Lariat Larner with 3:03 remaining. Grandview scored again, then Cline leaned around a defender to score off an inbound pass to make it 36-35.

Grandview immediately answered – again with Sullivan – and Stephenville head coach Alan Thorpe called timeout to draw up what eventually led to Graham’s go ahead basket.

Graham scored seven of her 11 in the fourth to lead Stephenville. Cline had nine, Smith six, Larner five, Chaviers three and Breanna Wooley two for the Bees, who return to action Thursdsay through Saturday in Granbury’s ever-tough Mike Brown Ford Holiday Classic.

Grandview led 17-15 at intermission thanks its fifth 3-pointer with two seconds on the clock.

Lariat Larner and Lyndi Graham
Lariat Larner and Lyndi Graham

Stephenville had grabbed a 14-13 edge on a free throw by Bayleigh Chaviers, and the teams exchanged takeaways before the big three by Grandview.

Shooting woes plagued Stephenville throughout the opening half, when they knocked down just one 3-point attempt and missed countless shots inside including three straight on one possession midway through the second.

Three of Grandview’s first half long balls came in the opening period, including one for the final points of the stanza and an 11-8 lead.

Skylar Chipman
Skylar Chipman
Ali Thorpe
Ali Thorpe

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