BLANCHARDVILLE - Brittany Kent looked out the window Tuesday afternoon and wished the snow would stop falling so she and her Vikings could clinch the Six Rivers East title on their home floor.
Several hours later, she wished even harder that her turnaround from the right block would've fallen down the cylinder.
The Pecatonica junior post found some open space inside Barneveld junior Melissa Carmody's position with three seconds remaining, but the ball spun off the rim and the Eagles exited Blanchardville with a 59-57 victory.
"We got a nice look," Vikings head coach Josh Tarrell said. "It just didn't work."
The Vikings were in full foul-and-chase mode in the final minute after Kimee Chandler made an acrobatic runner from 10 feet to make the score 58-55. Barneveld failed to keep Pec at an arm's length, going 1-for-7 from the charity stripe over the last 60 seconds.
The Eagles even allowed the Vikings to score without the clock running when Kaitlyn Linder fouled Alisha Esselstein off the ball and the freshman did her part, converting both freebies - making it 58-57 - with 44 seconds to go.
Eagles guard Courtney Sullivan hit the lone free throw in the final minute with 42 seconds after an Elise Sigg foul. The Vikings had the ball in their playmaker Chandler's hands, but Eagles senior center Alyssa Bowe swatted her pullup in the lane from eight feet, negating a first chance to tie the game. Senf was forced to foul Carmody with 26 ticks left, but she missed both attempts. The second oppotunity then fell into Danielle Senf's hands as she raced the ball upcourt and passed to Chandler, who worked it to the right and entered to Kent, but it was not to be for Pec.
Tarrell can only keep himself up at night replaying the sequence in his head and wonder what he might have done differently.
"There was 30 seconds left and I set a play up," Tarrell said. "Then it got it down 12 and I should've taken a timeout, looking back on it."
The Eagles' fan base erupted when the ball hit the hardwood and stung the Vikings, who worked to erase a nine-point deficit starting with three ticks remaining in the third quarter. A Kelly Mueller triple made it 50-41 Barneveld and Pec played for the last shot. Its first attempt rimmed away, but the Eagles (13-4 overall, 8-2 Six Rivers East) couldn't harness the rebound. Chandler and Danielle Senf made them pay with the perfect inbounds play from left of the hoop.
Chandler - who finished with a game-high 19 points - lobbed the ball into the post to Senf, who met the ball at its highest point before volleying it back to Chandler, who launched a triple from the right corner that touched nothing but twine as the buzzer sounded.
The duo connected again in the first minute of the fourth quarter for the same type of play, only to reverse roles and keep it inside the arc to make things 50-44. A couple of minutes later, Kent hit two freebies after a foul by Carmody to make it 52-49.
The Vikings and Senf in particular got good news at 11 a.m. Tuesday when the senior was given clearance to play for the rest of the season after having her knee scoped. Senf - who scored 31 points in a Dec. 21 victory over the Eagles one day after she was in a car crash - is playing on a torn meniscus and will have to have surgery after the season.
"It hurt. It's the first time I've done something in a week and a half," Senf said.
The Six Rivers East championship will have to wait at least until Friday, but the one-loss Vikings still control their own destiny and just need to defeat Argyle to claim the title.
Senf believes this tough loss will be a perfect motivational weapon that will get the Vikings the gold in due time.
"I definitely think this is what we needed," Senf said. "We took a step backwards. Tonight is really going to help us. It taught us what we have to work on. It's going to bring us closer as a team."
Several hours later, she wished even harder that her turnaround from the right block would've fallen down the cylinder.
The Pecatonica junior post found some open space inside Barneveld junior Melissa Carmody's position with three seconds remaining, but the ball spun off the rim and the Eagles exited Blanchardville with a 59-57 victory.
"We got a nice look," Vikings head coach Josh Tarrell said. "It just didn't work."
The Vikings were in full foul-and-chase mode in the final minute after Kimee Chandler made an acrobatic runner from 10 feet to make the score 58-55. Barneveld failed to keep Pec at an arm's length, going 1-for-7 from the charity stripe over the last 60 seconds.
The Eagles even allowed the Vikings to score without the clock running when Kaitlyn Linder fouled Alisha Esselstein off the ball and the freshman did her part, converting both freebies - making it 58-57 - with 44 seconds to go.
Eagles guard Courtney Sullivan hit the lone free throw in the final minute with 42 seconds after an Elise Sigg foul. The Vikings had the ball in their playmaker Chandler's hands, but Eagles senior center Alyssa Bowe swatted her pullup in the lane from eight feet, negating a first chance to tie the game. Senf was forced to foul Carmody with 26 ticks left, but she missed both attempts. The second oppotunity then fell into Danielle Senf's hands as she raced the ball upcourt and passed to Chandler, who worked it to the right and entered to Kent, but it was not to be for Pec.
Tarrell can only keep himself up at night replaying the sequence in his head and wonder what he might have done differently.
"There was 30 seconds left and I set a play up," Tarrell said. "Then it got it down 12 and I should've taken a timeout, looking back on it."
The Eagles' fan base erupted when the ball hit the hardwood and stung the Vikings, who worked to erase a nine-point deficit starting with three ticks remaining in the third quarter. A Kelly Mueller triple made it 50-41 Barneveld and Pec played for the last shot. Its first attempt rimmed away, but the Eagles (13-4 overall, 8-2 Six Rivers East) couldn't harness the rebound. Chandler and Danielle Senf made them pay with the perfect inbounds play from left of the hoop.
Chandler - who finished with a game-high 19 points - lobbed the ball into the post to Senf, who met the ball at its highest point before volleying it back to Chandler, who launched a triple from the right corner that touched nothing but twine as the buzzer sounded.
The duo connected again in the first minute of the fourth quarter for the same type of play, only to reverse roles and keep it inside the arc to make things 50-44. A couple of minutes later, Kent hit two freebies after a foul by Carmody to make it 52-49.
The Vikings and Senf in particular got good news at 11 a.m. Tuesday when the senior was given clearance to play for the rest of the season after having her knee scoped. Senf - who scored 31 points in a Dec. 21 victory over the Eagles one day after she was in a car crash - is playing on a torn meniscus and will have to have surgery after the season.
"It hurt. It's the first time I've done something in a week and a half," Senf said.
The Six Rivers East championship will have to wait at least until Friday, but the one-loss Vikings still control their own destiny and just need to defeat Argyle to claim the title.
Senf believes this tough loss will be a perfect motivational weapon that will get the Vikings the gold in due time.
"I definitely think this is what we needed," Senf said. "We took a step backwards. Tonight is really going to help us. It taught us what we have to work on. It's going to bring us closer as a team."
