With six seconds left in the game, Kara Wine took the in-bounds pass dribbled the ball into the lane and tossed up a last second shot to give the Marissa-Coulterville Lady Meteors a 35-34 win Thursday nightover Okawville and their first regional title in the program’s history.
“I was expecting to shoot it, but coach told me to drive if it came open and maybe I would get fouled,” said Wine. But it went in. It was a little overwhelming when I saw it go in. I couldn't believe that we had won. Winning the regional title is all we wanted to do since the season began.”
“We talked all week about how this game would be decided by three points or less,” said Marissa-Coulterville coach Dan Lehman. “I have to give the boys coach Dirk Miller credit for the final play. It was the same play he drew up last week to beat Steeleville. I decided to try it tonight and it worked. I just had a good felling knowing the ball would be in Kara’s hands for the last shot.”
The regional final turned into an instant classic as neither team had a bigger lead than five points as everyone in the packed Meteor Fieldhouse knew the game would be decided in the final seconds.
“This was a huge win for us,” added Lehman. “I told Okawville’s coaching staff that they are who we want to be. Okawville is such a powerhouse every year with so much tradition. You can’t ask to be part of a better game with such a great environment in a packed house.”
After falling behind 5-2 early in the first quarter, the Lady Meteors went on an 8-0 scoring run for a 10-5 lead. Okawville quickly responded and ended the first quarter with a 6-2 run to trail just 12-11 heading into the second quarter.
Wine got off to a good start for Marissa-Coulterville scoring five points in the opening frame, while Dena Malkin nailed a big three-pointer.
The action went back and forth in the second quarter with neither team gaining a bigger lead than three points. Marissa-Coulterville had four different players score a basket as they outscored Okawville 8-6 in the frame for a 20-17 advantage at the break.
The Lady Rockets put together one of their best scoring runs early in the third quarter outscoring Marissa-Coulterville 7-0 for a 24-20 lead.
Wine pulled her team back in it by scoring the next five points and then another key three-pointer by Malkin capped off an 8-2 run as the Lady Meteors were back on top 28-26.
Okawville freshman Megan Wienstroer scored on a layup late in the quarter to tie the game up at 28-28 as the third quarter drew to an end.
The two teams would exchange leads four times over the final eight minutes of play until Wienstroher hit 1-of-2 free throws to give her team a one-point lead, 34-33, with 1:27 left in the game.
Lehman called three time-outs in the final minute of play as the Okawville defense was playing for the win.
“They kept on pushing us out and we were tired so I thought I’d burn time-out instead of having us turn the ball over and lose that way,” added Lehman.
The final time-out with six seconds left in regulation set up Wine’s heroics as her short jumpshot will go down in Marissa-Coulterville high school sports history.
“Kara did it all for us tonight,” said Lehman. “She simply would not allow us to lose. Winning the regional title has been our goal since this group of seniors were freshman and tonight we did it. I’m very proud of this basketball team.”
Okawville attempted to call a time-out in the final second after Wine’s shot, but time expired.
Wine finished with a game-high best 16 points with nine rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks.
The win lifts Marissa-Coulterville’s record to 24-4 and into the Lebanon 1A Sectional Tuesday, where it will take on Bunker Hill at 6 p.m. in the semifinals.
Bunker Hill rolled past Madison 71-35 Thursday night to win its own regional.
The three-point showdown sectional qualifiers are Sarah Bixby (Okawville), Kara Wine (Marissa-Coulterville), Jill Winkelman (Steeleville) and Natalie Ruebke (Steeleville).
