BGM’s buzzer-beater buries Tigerhawks

COLFAX — With the game tied in the closing seconds Friday night, Colfax-Mingo girls’ basketball coach Jeff Clemens told his team during a timeout not to overplay the ball and keep everything in front of them.

When all was said and done, he wished he would have told his players to foul if they got in trouble.

The end result was a 41-39 road victory for BGM as junior Rachel Hawkins drove to the bucket and made a wide open layup just before time expired in a South Iowa Cedar League contest.

It was the 10th point of the night for Hawkins, and it helped the Bears avoid a huge letdown after leading the Tigerhawks by double figures in the third quarter.

“You have to keep the dribbler between you and the basket,” Clemens said. “We would have been OK in overtime because they were in foul trouble. With us having only five fouls, I probably should have just fouled her right away.”

Once Hawkins got by the on-ball defender, she had an open lane to the rim.

And C-M’s post defense had to make a decision on whether or not they helped on Hawkins and left senior Kelsey Lint open in the lane.

The Tigerhawks elected to stay with Lint and Hawkins didn’t miss her chance to end the game in regulation.

“We couldn’t leave Lint either so it was a tough situation,” Clemens said.

Colfax-Mingo may not have been in a last-second situation had it played better in the first quarter.

The Tigerhawks trailed 5-4 on a pair of free throws by senior Payton Rhone, but BGM ended the frame on a 12-3 run to lead 17-7 after eight minutes.

The Tigerhawks played catch up the rest of the night.

A bucket inside by Lint in the second quarter put the Bears up 11, but a 7-0 run by C-M trimmed its deficit to four.

Riley Van Ersvelde made two free throws late in the quarter to put BGM up six at the break.

Van Ersvelde and Lint both finished with 15 points to lead the Bears. Eleven of those 15 by Van Ersvelde came in the first half. Lint also had six rebounds and seven blocks.

Colfax-Mingo (1-4 overall, 1-3 in the SICL) stayed within six after three quarters, but BGM did go up by as many 11 in the third.

“We turned it over too much. We weren’t even taking shots at some points,” Clemens said. “The errors were unforced a lot of times, too. We were moving the ball so quick that our post weren’t able to get set up.”

C-M senior Jordan Atwood played a big part in the Tigerhawk comeback. She scored five of her team-high 12 points in the frame, and a bucket by senior Camilla Schlosser made it 34-28 after three quarters.

Schlosser also reached double-figures in the game, finishing with 11 points and eight rebounds. Atwood had seven boards.

“We kept trying to attack the posts and used our inside-outside game,” Clemens said. “We got the ball inside in the second half.”

The Tigerhawks scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter, and the 9-0 run put the home team up 37-34 with 4:49 to play.

Freshman Melanie Vry made a pair of free throws to give C-M that margin, and a bucket inside by Atwood kept the lead at three with 2:20 to go.

Unfortunately, the Tigerhawks didn’t score again. Lint got a basket inside and hit 1-of-4 from the line to tie it. The game stayed tied for about 43 seconds until Hawkins won it with the layup.

“I was proud of the way they came back and rallied,” Clemens said.

C-M had the ball in a tie game with 15 seconds to play but couldn’t score. The Tigerhawks lost by two but missed 10 free throws and turned it over 20 times. They also were 14-of-42 from the field and 2-of-10 from 3-point range.

Rhone was double covered all night, and the Bears (3-4, 3-2) extended their defense past the 3-point line to keep her in check. All eight of Rhone’s points were scored in the first half, but she also had three assists and three blocks.

Senior Colbee Cunningham scored five points and had 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Senior Delaney Underwood dished out three assists.

After the game, Clemens admitted he was emotionally and physically drained after a tough week off the court.

Clemens’ mother in law passed away on Wednesday, and his Dad went into the hospital during that time, too.

“I haven’t slept much in two or three days,” Clemens said. “I was in Fort Dodge on Thursday to be with my Dad. I am going to sleep tonight and head back up there Saturday. I was mentally drained.”

Clemens posted on social media Sunday that his father would have wanted him to be at the game to coach his team on Friday. Clemens admitted though that it might not have been the best decision.

And then later posted that he would not be coaching his team on Tuesday so he could be around for his father’s final days.

“I probably was more of detriment than help,” Clemens posted to the C-M Girls Basketball Facebook page. “My mind was there but my heart was some place else ... so I apologize to the girls and the fans. The girls played hard once again. They displayed a no-quit effort after being down by 11 twice in the game. I am so proud of these kids.”

Colfax-Mingo plays at Class 1A No. 8 North Mahaska at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in New Sharon.

BGM 17-6-11-7 — 41

Colfax-Mingo 7-10-11-11 — 39

BGM (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP) — Rachel Hawkins 5-0-0-10, Mariah Coover 0-1-4-1, Morgan Kline 0-0-1-0, Riley Van Ersvelde 5/3-2-2-15, Rachel Weiss 0-0-2-0, Kelsey Lint 7-1-4-15, Rylie Gritsch 0-0-5-0. Totals 17/3-4-18-41.

Colfax-Mingo (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP) — Delaney Underwood 0-0-1-0, Payton Rhone 2/2-2-2-8, Brennan Rhone 0-0-1-0, Melany Vry 0-2-0-2, Jordan Atwood 5-2-2-12, Colbee Cunningham 2-1-0-5, Avery Rague 0-1-3-1, Camilla Schlosser 5-1-3-11. Totals 14/2-9-12-39.