MORRISTOWN — With the game tied at 44-44, Hauser’s Tori Chandler found herself at the free-throw line with 41.5 seconds left Thursday night at Morristown.
She converted the first free throw, but a line violation by the Jets negated the second attempt.
Morristown took the lead 46-45 with a Cambi Poole jump shot. The Yellow Jackets opted to pressure the inbounds pass, but Hauser broke through the press and Hailey Lange found herself wide open for a layup to retake the lead.
The Jets defense forced a Yellow Jackets inbound with 2.6 seconds left. On the inbounds, Sarah Tedder was able to get her hands on the ball and time expired with Hauser clinching at least a share of the Mid-Hoosier Conference title with a thrilling 47-46 win.
The Jets can win the MHC title outright with a win against North Decatur on Tuesday.
“It’s awesome, especially since it is my senior year,” said Lange. “It’s for the conference, and that was our game to win. It was one that we really needed. I couldn’t have asked for a better team because everyone just works so hard and we all earned it.”
The Jets (12-7, 5-0) found themselves down 44-36 midway in the fourth quarter after the Yellow Jackets went on a 12-0 run. But Hauser withstood the pressure and showed a lot of poise and heart to come back and tie the game.
“It’s nice because never gave up,” said Hauser junior Grace Hasler, who finished with 10 points. “There have been a couple of past games where we just got tired, but this was it. This was for the conference. We can’t quit, and we just kept that attitude going the whole time while we were out there.”
The Jets closed out the game on an 11-2 run.
“You can never count these girls out,” Hauser coach Brad Hamilton said. “No matter the situation, they will always give 150 percent out there. It all goes back to our defense. We forced some mistakes that got the ball back to us. I love this team, and it is a real privilege to be coaching these kids. It’s hard seeing the season wind down because I’ve had so much fun.”
Chandler led the Jets with 14 points. Tedder finished with 10.
