On an aesthetically pleasing, can’t-wait-to-review-the-film scale, Bellarmine Prep girls basketball coach Kevin Meines gave a negative review of his team’s 2013 West Central District debut.
“That was a zero,” Meines said.
But on a satisfaction scale?
“That was a 100,” he said.
After trailing much of the game, the host Lions found an unlikely spark to rally for 41-39 overtime victory over the Rogers Rams on Tuesday.
Bellarmine Prep (14-7), the Narrows League 4A runner-up, will face No. 2 Mount Rainier (21-1) in the Class 4A district quarterfinals Friday at Stadium High.
The frantic exchanges in the final 15.3 seconds of overtime sure made up for a game that was riddled with ball-handling errors by the Lions (17 first-half turnovers for Bellarmine Prep, which was without injured point guard Jasmyne Holmes), and missed free throws (4-for-13 in the fourth quarter and overtime) and layups by the Rams.
After Ionna Price’s free throw gave Bellarmine Prep a 39-37 lead, the Lions pressured full court – and Rogers (12-9) threw over the top of the defense. The ball landed in the hands of senior post Kalani Ulufale for an easy layup to tie the game.
Bellarmine Prep inbounded quickly, got the ball to freshman Jayana Ervin near midcourt. She did the rest, squeezing by a defender near the free-throw line, shifting the ball to her left hand as she curled to the left to make the winning layup with one second to go.
Ervin tallied six of her eight points in overtime.
“I got it, turned and I just ran. I didn’t even think,” Ervin said. “I wasn’t even processing anything, looking at the clock or nothing.”
Midway through the third quarter, Rogers held a 27-19 lead but went the next 9 minutes, 23 seconds without a field goal to let the Lions back in it.
“It was just missed opportunities – lay-ins and missed free throws,” Rogers coach Amy Looker said. “If we would have put those in the hoop, we’d be winners right now.”
Todd Milles: 253-597-8442 todd.milles@ thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/preps @ManyHatsMilles
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