The New Bloomfield Lady Wildcats could have caved.
After leading for the game's first 29 minutes and having an 11-point advantage evaporate, the Lady Wildcats saw the Jamestown Lady Eagles jump in front for the first time.
New Bloomfield punched right back, scoring six straight points en route to a 54-48 victory Saturday morning in the National Guard Shootout at Fleming Fieldhouse.
"We just kept fighting and we finished it off well," New Bloomfield head coach Brett Craighead said. "We got down that time, called timeout, regrouped and gave them a little gut-check there, and they decided they wanted to finish that thing off."
Alli Muri's steal and layup gave Jamestown a 44-43 advantage with exactly three minutes remaining in the contest, the first and last time the Lady Eagles would be ahead on the scoreboard. That prompted a New Bloomfield timeout.
"I told them, "They've got the lead, now we've got to want it more than them,'" Craighead said. "I knew if we kept attacking inside that some of those shots would fall, and finally we started doing that."
New Bloomfield scored on three straight possessions - two buckets from Zoe Welschmeyer and a score from Mykaela Bonnett - to take a 49-44 lead.
While Jamestown did get within 49-48 with 26 seconds left, New Bloomfield sealed the victory with five free throws.
"We hit some free throws when we needed it, and that's important," Craighead said.
Said Jamestown head coach E.H. Hirschvogel: "It was a good game between two good teams. Somebody had to win, somebody had to lose."
It looked like New Bloomfield was going to run away with the game early on. The Lady Wildcats hit 7-of-12 shots in the opening period and built a 17-6 advantage.
That's when Jamestown woke up, which can be excused considering it was a 10 a.m. tip-off. The Lady Eagles scored the second quarter's first eight points, including a rare five-point possession. Lexi Muri drained a 3-pointer, while an off-the-ball foul was called simultaneously. That handed possession straight back to Jamestown, which capitalized when Lexi Muri knocked down a jumper to make it 17-14.
Jamestown cut the lead to two three separate times, but New Bloomfield took a 26-22 lead into halftime.
Jamestown tossed in two quick scores to open the third period, tying the game at 26. And just like every other time, New Bloomfield had the answer. That time it was a jumper from Brooke Kelley that kept the Lady Eagles at bay.
"The girls battled, especially the last three quarters," Hirschvogel said. "I was very proud of effort that they gave. If we could have come out a little less flat in the first quarter it could have been a different ball game."
After cutting the deficit to a point on three occasions in the fourth quarter, Alli Muri's steal finally gave Jamestown the lead. The Lady Eagles just couldn't hold it.
Welschmeyer tallied a game-high 16 points for New Bloomfield on 7-of-11 shooting. Taylor Howard added 13 while going a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor.
Alli Muri led Jamestown with 13 points while Lexi Muri added 12, all coming on 3-pointers.
New Bloomfield and Jamestown are both 4-3 on the season.