Lady Crushers win district crown
MARTIN COUCH Sports editor

5AAA JUNIOR HIGH DISTRICT CHAMPIONS BOB MCADORY PHOTOS The Bauxite Lady Crushers defeated Conway St. Joseph's in overtime to win the 5AAA junior high district tournament at Glen Rose. Right, Mary Crow sank two free throws to win it.

Mary Crow is only a seventh-grader, but stepped to the free-throw line with 4.4 seconds to play in overtime of the 5AAA District Tournament championship game and calmly sank two free throws to lift the Bauxite Lady Crushers to their first district title in a decade by beating the Conway St. Joseph's junior Lady Bulldogs 40-39 on Saturday at Glen Rose gymnasium.

Crow finished with a career-high 28 points, but her heroics came after Helen Jones had put in a short 2-footer at the buzzer to tie the game 33-33 at the end of regulation play. During the overtime, with St. Joseph leading by three points, Sunny Smith sank a key 3-pointer for Bauxite to regain the momentum.

The Lady Crushers finished their championship season with an unprecedented 17-3 overall record.

"I told them I thought they [St. Joseph] had a better 'me' and we had a better 'we,' " said head coach Joshua Harrison. "We played together as a team and overcame. We willed ourselves to win. In 13.7 seconds, we scored four points to tie the game, then Mary stepped up big for us and made two huge free throws after she made a mistake to send them to the line. Shelby Wingate stepped up and played unbelievable defense. Helen Jones made some big plays late for us and Sunny Smith made a huge three-pointer. Tristan Rogers came in and gave us great energy defensively, Katie Jenkins gave us some great minutes, Amanda Cordell played big for us and all the girls on the bench yelled and kept us encouraged. Alaina Crouse didn't have her best game, but she made her presence felt against their best girl."

St. Joseph led 4-0 before Jones hit two free throws for Bauxite and Crow scored to tie the game. After Conway retook the lead on a three-point play and added a basket, Jenkins made a free throw to make it a 9-5 game by the end of the first quarter.

Crow scored the first basket of the second period to cut the game to two points, but St. Joseph went up 14-7. Two free throws from Crow, a basket by Jenkins and seven straight points from Crow ended the first half. Crow hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put the Lady Crushers up 18-17 at halftime.

SUNNY BOB MCADORY PHOTO Bauxite Lady Crusher Sunny Smith handles the point for the team during the title game against St. Joseph's.

St. Joseph came back to take a 20-18 lead, but Crow scored to tie the game. Crow sank two free throws seconds later for the lead, but Conway took a 25-22 lead by the end of the third period. Conway's lead went up as much as 29-22, but a free throw by Crow, a 3-pointer by Crow and another free throw by Crow made it a 32-27 game with 2:35 to play in the fourth. Crow put back an offensive rebound for a score, then Jones hit two free throws to make it 33-31 with 6.7 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Jones intercepted a St. Joseph pass and converted a layup to tie the game at the buzzer.

In overtime, Conway went up by two points, only to have Crow tie the game. A 3-pointer from Smith put Bauxite up 38- 35, but St. Joseph's hit four free throws to take a 39-38 lead with 11.2 seconds left. Smith took the inbounds pass and dribbled down court. She threw to Jenkins, who passed to Crow for a last second shot. Crow was fouled on the miss and sank the two game-winning free throws with 4.4 seconds to play.

"All year long it was all of them," Harrison said. "We didn't just have one girl who could win the game, we had seven, eight, nine or 10 who could do it. We played 17 games on the road and that's pretty impressive to be on someone else's court and still win games. I'm just so proud of them. They way they played the game, they overcame a tough St. Joseph team, me blowing a gasket and the calls that went against them. They just believed."

The Lady Crushers opened the tournament by crushing the Magnet Cove junior Lady Panthers 41-15. Crow led with 16 points, while Crouse and Jones each had eight points.

In the second round of the tournament, Bauxite avenged their only conference loss by defeating Pottsville 32-23. Crow led with 13 points, while Rogers added six points and Crouse put in five.

WINNERS BOB MCADORY PHOTO Helen Jones, left, and Tristian Rogers, right, against Magnet Cove. BOB MCADORY PHOTO JENKINS Bauxite Lady Crusher Katie Jenkins shoots a free throw against Conway St. Joseph's.