So many times, it was like a knife through butter.
Drive the lane, make a quick cut, go straight the basket for a layup.
It was a formula for success for Homewood-Flossmoor during Monday night’s Class 4A Mother McAuley Supersectional.
Trailing Young by one point with precious seconds left in overtime, what else was there for Tylah Lampley to do?
The 5-foot-10 senior guard took off from the free-throw line. About halfway to the basket she went up. Young forward Danyelle Williams came down.
It was hand to ball. A block. Moments later, it was over, a 76-74 victory for Young that sends the Dolphins to the state finals.
“I didn’t see her coming up,” Lampley said of the 6-1 Williams. “I thought it would be a foul if (anybody) blocked my shot. But she got the ball.”
Lampley’s eyes were glistening. It doesn’t get more heartbreaking, especially since H-F led virtually the entire way, at one time by 15 points.
“We were just falling apart and didn’t push,” Lampley said. “We lost our focus.”
And eventually, lost what will be considered a classic.
Karli Seay scored 22 points, Nadia Green had 16, Lindzy Cox 15 and Lampley added 12 for H-F (24-4), which was denied a second consecutive trip to state.
Ohio State signee Kiara Lewis wasn’t the final hero for Young. That was Williams. But Lewis, a 5-9 senior guard, put up 44 points for the Dolphins (27-5), who will meet Fremd in Friday’s semifinals at Redbird Arena.
For much of the night, it seemed that even if Lewis scored 50, it wouldn’t be enough to stop the H-F express.
The Vikings came out crisp and aggressive. They drove relentlessly to the basket.
In the first half, which ended with H-F in front 41-31, the Vikings shot 19-for-29 — the vast majority of points coming on layups.
“We just wanted to get the lead and make it as hard as we could for them to get back,” Seay said. “We just kept pushing and playing our game.”
Nearly halfway into the third quarter, H-F led 47-32 and seemingly couldn’t do anything wrong.
Young, however, chipped away. The Dolphins made a big push midway through the fourth quarter, slicing a 49-41 deficit down to 49-48.
The real stunner came with less than 10 seconds remaining, when trailing 68-64 Lewis drove for a layup to get them within two. Then the Dolphins stole the inbounds pass.
Jala Wilson scored on a layup while being fouled with 0.9 seconds left to tie it, but missed the free throw that would have clinched the game.
Seay was almost a hero with 33.2 seconds left in overtime when she drove for a bank-in while being fouled. That made it 75-74 Young. But Seay missed the free throw.
Still, H-F would get one more chance when Young failed to seal it at the other end. After Lampley’s shot was blocked, Adrienne Truitt went to the line for the Dolphins and hit one of two free throws.
“That’s the shot we wanted,” H-F coach Tony Smith said of Lampley’s drive. “Sometimes in the end it just isn’t meant to be.
“The part that hurts so bad is that this team has been underrated all year. I know what type of young ladies we have here, and they are winners. I wish they’d have a chance to prove that (at state), but we let one get away.”
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