By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
HAMMOND – The Huntington Lady Raiders had history on their side. But so did defending state champion John Curtis.
Huntington’s season-long drive to avoid repeating last year’s state semifinal disappointment was manifested by relentless effort in the closing minutes Thursday afternoon at the University Center in the final four of the LHSAA’s Select Division I girls basketball tournament.
It culminated with the last of five lead changes in the final 1:27, a pair of free throws by junior guard Kyndal Graham with two seconds left that broke the game’s 11th tie and gave the No. 4 Lady Raiders a deeply gratifying 61-59 triumph over this season’s top seed.
At this stage a year ago, it was Huntington seeded No. 1 and fully expecting to reach its second state final in four seasons. But the Lady Raiders didn’t have their best stuff and Woodlawn of Baton Rouge bounced them 71-58.
The sting from that stinker hasn’t faded, and it won’t in the state final Saturday at 4, either. On the other bench will be that same Woodlawn team, after it easily dispatched Edna Karr in Thursday’s other semi, which was almost anticlimactic after the sensational battle waged by Huntington (22-10) and Curtis (18-5) with 12 lead changes, eight in the rollercoaster fourth quarter.
The losers justifiably felt destined to reach their ninth straight state final. They’ve won seven championships in the last eight seasons, but not this year, despite a quality effort. The Lady Raiders – hardly newcomers to Marsh Madness, playing in their fifth semifinal in six years — brought their best.
“We didn’t want to feel like we did last year,” said seventh-year coach Brian Shyne. “We came up short, left some things on the table, didn’t play our best basketball. But today we played our best.”
Carley Hamilton did. The senior guard, headed to Southern Mississippi, poured in 27 points including 11-for-11 at the free throw line, and snagged 8 rebounds.
Graham did, with 16 points – and her last bucket almost overlooked, a drive and twisting, off-hand layup dripping over the left side of the rim with 15 seconds remaining to knot it at 59.
While on the topic of pivotal plays, how about the one that helped deny Curtis one last lead? Huntington’s sophomore post, Kaylee Dupree, blocked a shot in the lane and the Lady Raiders had the possession arrow on an ensuing tie ball with 3.7 seconds left.
After a timeout, Huntington inbounded 94 feet away to Graham on the right side in front of the Curtis bench and almost immediately, a defender reached across trying for a steal and fouled her. Instead of a desperate heave from long distance, Graham got two uncontested trips to the line, just needing to sink one. The first freebie caught iron but dropped, and the second one swished. Curtis wasn’t able to manage a shot before the final buzzer.
“When I was at the free throw line – we work on free throws all the time, and we know that free throws win championships – I just buckled down, stayed solid and hit the free throws,” said Graham, whose only two tries from the line were part of a 15-for-18 performance there by Huntington.
It was championship caliber.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com