Columbus East’s Ella Anthis drives to the basket against Mooresville’s Millie Allison during Friday’s game in the Orange Pit at Columbus East High School.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
A night that started out so well for Columbus East ended in heartbreak.
The Olympians were well on their way to picking up their third girls basketball win of the season Friday when Mooresville came storming back. The Pioneers rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final 3 minutes, 2 seconds, to pull out a 50-48 victory on East’s Pink Night.
Mooresville (3-3) finished the game on a 14-2 run. After a free throw by Ella Anthis gave the Olympians (2-4) a 48-45 lead with 16 seconds remaining, the Pioneers got two free throws from Kendal Price with 9.9 seconds left to cut the lead to one. Price then stole the inbounds pass and hit a 3-pointer to give Mooresville the improbable win.
East led by as many as 15 points in the first half. After the Pioneers opened the game with a 3-pointer, the Olympians scored 14 in a row to take a double-digit lead. East bulit the margin to 27-12 and still led 29-18 at halftime.
A key play in the game came early in the third quarter when East point guard Kenzie Cheek dove for a loose ball and appeared to have been hit. Cheek did not return to the game, and with her out of the lineup, the Olympians turned the ball over 10 times in the second half.
Mooresville cut the lead to 39-30 after three quarters and got to within 41-36 with 4:53 remaining. East then spread the floor, and a driving layup by Lola Watkins and a 3-pointer by Krea Martin pushed the lead back to 10. But that would be the last field goal for the Olympians.
Anthis led East with 15 points. Watkins finished with nine points and six assists, Bailey Rohde had eight points and Brelyn Pool added seven points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Olympians to a 33-25 advantage on the boards.
Mooresville 50, Columbus East 48
Mooresville;8;10;12;20;—;50
Columbus East;16;13;10;9;—;48
Mooresville (3-3): Madi Phillips 1 0-1 2, Kendal Price 4 4-5 13, Makenzie Holtzclaw 2 0-0 4, Kaylee Barton 3 0-0 7, Millie Allison 6 0-2 15, Halle Moore 2 3-4 7, Niah Craig 0 2-6 2. Totals: 18 9-18 50.
Columbus East (2-4): Kenzie Cheek 1 3-4 5, Lola Watkins 2 5-8 9, Ella Anthis 4 7-9 15, Ella Armstrong 0 0-0 0, Krea Martin 1 0-2 3, Brelyn Pool 3 0-0 7, Bailey Rohde 2 2-2 8, London Cline 0 1-4 1. Totals: 13 18-29 48.
3-point goals: Mooresville 5 (Allison 3, Price, Barton). Columbus East 4 (Rohde, Martin, Pool).
