ST. LEON — Alexa McKinley hit a 14-footer from the elbow just before the buzzer sounded Thursday night to give Columbus North a 46-44 win at East Central.
"We had a chance at Heritage (Christian) to run a last-second play, and it didn’t go for us that night, and we lost in overtime" North coach Pat McKee said. "Tonight, we made the shot."
The Bull Dogs (5-5) trailed by as many as five in the second quarter before taking a 22-21 lead at halftime. The Trojans (5-4) went back up by five in the third quarter and led by one going to the fourth.
Madison White hit a 3-pointer for to open the fourth quarter, and Lauren Barker followed with a 3 and McKinley a basket for 38-31 lead. East Central then used a 10-2 run to take a 41-40 lead.
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McKinley hit two free throws to give North the lead, but the Trojans made two to regain the lead. Two free throws by Annie Anderson gave the lead back to the Bull Dogs before East Central tied it with a free throw.
North called timeout with 34 seconds left to set up the play for McKinley.
"We called a play and said, ‘Let’s hold for a last shot. Just execute the play, and we’ll win,’" McKee said. "The shot went in, but the passes and screens leading to the shot went perfectly. It was the whole play, going from when we started it. It’s a play we run fairly regularly, but we hadn’t run it in this game."
McKinley and White each finished with 12 points to lead the Bull Dogs.
