GREENSBURG — One word could summarize Thursday’s Mid-Hoosier Conference girls basketball matchup between Hauser and South Decatur — ugly.
Turnovers, missed easy shots and missed free throws all plagued both teams, but the Jets had just enough to escape with a 42-40 victory.
Tied at 39-39, Marnie Schwartzkopf hit the go-ahead basket to make it 41-39 in the Jets’ favor. After Brook Somers hit one free throw to make it 41-40, Hauser’s Kyliegh Parrott connected on a free throw, and the numerous shot attempts for the Cougars didn’t fall at the end.
“It was an ugly win, but we’ll take the ‘W’,” Hauser coach Chad Evans said. “The kids are working hard. We had a really good week of practice. I was coming in hopeful to have the throttle on tonight, but we got into foul trouble, and the kids that came off the bench stepped up and played well.”
South Decatur coach Kelly Fox, who was understandably frustrated with the results, said her team needs to find a way to finish a game.
“We should have won this game. I felt like we gave it away,” Fox said. “We got ahead by four, and we couldn’t finish … This one really hurts. It’s heartbreaking.”
The score was tied at 5-5 midway through the first quarter until a basket by Lana Bell put the Cougars (1-10, 0-2) ahead 7-5. With about three minutes left in the first quarter, the Jets (5-5, 1-1) gained the lead following a 3-pointer from Parrott, and then a steal and a layup following a South Decatur turnover put Hauser ahead 10-7. The Cougars came back to cut the lead to 12-11 heading into the second quarter.
After a Parrott 3-pointer extended the Jets lead to 15-11, South Decatur went on an 8-0 run to take a 19-15 lead. Hauser came back to tie the game at 19-19. In the closing seconds of the first half, a free throw from Loryn Pate gave the Cougars a 22-21 lead at the half.
Bell finished the first half with 12 points, and Parrott scored 11.
Aunaka Wasil gave the Jets the lead to start the second half with a 3-pointer, but South Decatur responded with five straight points to lead 26-24. Hauser then went on a 7-0 run to lead 31-26 and force a Cougar timeout. Hauser kept South Decatur at bay and led 33-29 heading into the fourth.
The Cougars took the lead at 38-35 following a 9-2 scoring run to start the fourth quarter. Mel Hasler cut it to 38-37 following a layup. A free throw from Somers and two free throws from Parrott tied the game at 39-39, setting up the final sequence.
Bell finished with 12 points to lead South Decatur and Parrott scored a game-high 20 for the Jets.
“Hopefully we can build on this. We need to take games one at a time,” Evans said.
