The Helias Lady Crusaders may have hit the game's biggest shot, but the Eureka Lady Wildcats were able to come out on top of the game's final score.
Helias' Claire Ludwig drilled a 3-pointer as time expired in regulation to force an extra period, but Eureka had a scoring edge of 8-4 in overtime to win the fifth-place game of the Holiday Hoops Invitational by a 62-58 score at Rackers Fieldhouse.
Despite the final result, Helias coach Alan Lepper said his team's execution in the waning moments of regulation and its ability to give itself a shot to win in overtime was impressive.
"We took a step tonight," he said. "It's a process, and we took a step.
"I think the kids are getting more comfortable playing together and there are some kids who found out they can be a part of what we want to do. It was a big confidence-builder."
Helias led or was tied for the lead for all but 24 seconds of the first half, while Eureka had the better of play in the second half.
The Lady Wildcats appeared ready to cruise to the win after going up 50-42 with 2:50 left in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Crusaders made a furious charge.
The comeback started with a three-point play by Morgan Wieberg and a 3-pointer by Lauren Alexander. Three free throws helped Eureka build the lead back to 53-48 before Wieberg canned a 3 with just :15.4 remaining.
Eureka made 1-of-2 free throws to set the stage for Ludwig's big shot, which came off an out-of-bounds play with just :00.8 remaining.
"I told a couple of kids, 'We have to have a sense of urgency and if you get your shot, it's got to go up,'" Lepper said. "Claire is a kid who, when she hits, she hits. It's a hot-cold thing and she's been feeling it the last couple days.
"She's a senior that's been through the battles and she's the one who got the call and she hit it."
The ensuing celebration seemed to take a little wind out of Helias' sails to start the extra period. The Lady Crusaders came up empty on their first four possessions, turning the ball over on three of them, while Eureka scored four points in that time to take a lead it would never relinquish.
"They came over (before the start of overtime) and I told them, 'Cheer for a second, stop, take a deep breath, and go out and play basketball,'" Lepper said. "I think if we had a team with a few more seniors, we come of that a little better."
Still, the Lady Crusaders were down just 58-56 and had the ball with a little more than a minute remaining in overtime. But that possession ended up being fruitless and Eureka was able to hold on for the win.
Both teams battled foul trouble throughout. Four players ended up fouling out and four others ended up with four fouls.
"Part of that is the kids learning the flow of the game and learning how the officials are calling it," Lepper said. "You had two officials that were really strict at calling by the rules. Having on a hand on (the offensive player) is a foul, that's the new rule. We've got to go back and reinforce that defense is played with the feet, not with the hands."
The tightly called nature of the game played to Helias' advantage in the first half. Constantly attacking the basket, the Lady Crusaders went to the line 23 times and made an impressive 18 attempts (78 percent).
"We've shot some more free throws recently and changed up how we were doing things," Lepper said. "The last two days, the kids have bought into the fact that they can make free throws. We did it prior to the season and then all of a sudden, we hit a brick wall. Now this week, we've done a better job."
Helias didn't get to the charity stripe nearly as much in the second half and overtime, ending up 24-of-32 (75 percent) for the game.
"Eureka did a good job of taking us out of getting to the rim in the second half," Lepper said. "We just didn't get to the line. In the second half, we just didn't attack the rim like we should have."
Wieberg ended up pumping in a game-high 19 points to pace Helias. Rockers, the team's selection to the all-tournament team, ended up with a double-double by scoring 12 points and yanking down a game-high 16 rebounds.
Annika Herbert hit 12-of-16 free throws on her way to leading Eureka with 14 points. Nadia Farmer had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Makayla Jackson led the Lady Wildcats with 12 rebounds. Grace Archambault, who had just seven points while battling foul trouble, was named to the all-tournament team with Farmer.