Gray’s clutch shot lifts surging Belleville East girls to win over O’Fallon
Hailey Gray knew that she had to score with the game on the line Thursday night.
Gray got the ball with 7 seconds left, drove the lane, pulled up and drained an 8-foot jumper with time running out, lifting the Belleville East girls basketball team to a thrilling 51-49 Southwestern Conference win over O’Fallon at Belleville East High School.
For Gray and her Lancers teammates, it was the perfect bounce back from a crushing 59-55 home loss to Alton two days earlier.
“We were very disappointed in how we played (against Alton) and we wanted to make up for it in practice and tonight, we just turned it on and even though it was a close win, we put it together at the end. It was big for us mentally because we just really need to turn up our consistency.”
O’Fallon (12-6, 4-3) came out sharp early as the Panthers jumped to a quick 13-2 lead thanks to eight points from senior point guard Josie Christopher.
Belleville East (17-2, 6-1) used an 8-2 run in the closing minutes of the first quarter to pull within 15-10 after the first stanza.
The Panthers pushed the lead to 19-12 in the second quarter on a Quinn Zerjal free throw but East dug in on defense and reeled off a dizzying 11-3 run capped by a Gray triple, which gave them a 23-22 lead at the half.
“It’s all on the girls, they know the expectations, so we had to extend the D and they turned to come around and get it together and come together to get the job done,” Belleville East coach Shardae King said.
East continued to knock down shots in the third quarter. Ramiyah Young nailed a 10-footer extending the lead to 40-31 in the final minute of the third quarter.
Young led the Lancers with 17 points.
O’Fallon pulled within 49-47 with 2:19 left on a pair of Kayla Kalmer free throws.
Zerjal brought the Panthers even at 49-49 with 11.8 seconds to go on a driving two in the lane.
That set the stage for Gray’s clutch shot. Off the inbounds pass, Gray came down the lane off the dribble, pulled up and calmly drilled an 8-foot jumper with just under five seconds left. Gray had no doubt about her game winner. “Get a screen, get the ball and score,” Gray said. “I couldn’t miss, so the only option was to score.”
Gray finished the night with 15 points.
Out of timeouts, the Panthers tried to get off a quick shot with under four seconds to go but it was to no avail.
Although his team came up short, O’Fallon coach Nick Knolhoff praised their performance. “We let her get too good of a look too deep in the lane, kudos to her for making the shot but I thought we played fantastic,” Knolhoff said of Gray’s shot. “We switched up our defense a little bit and kind of went zone and kind of stopped the penetration down the lane but I’m really proud of my girls’ effort.”
Zerjal led O’Fallon with 16 points. Christopher, who averages 20.4 points per game, was held to 10 points. Jocelyn Mitchell had 10 points.
King was pleased with the Lancers’ gritty showing against an always tough O’Fallon squad. “We needed it, we needed it, and we tell them all the time, it’s not about the losses because the losses build character, but what is the response going to be and I think it was ugly but we came out with a W, so I’m proud of that,” King said.
Both teams return to action on Saturday with first round games in the 39th Annual Highland Tournament. Belleville East, which has won five of its last seven games, will open with Centralia at 4 p.m. while O’Fallon takes on Triad in an 8:30 p.m. matchup.