The Belmont girls basketball team's motto of "Together we can" was never more evident than in the last seconds of the MHSAA Class 3A championship game Friday against the two-time defending champion Booneville Lady Blue Devils .
The Lady Cardinals trailed 39-37 with less than 10 seconds left in the game and Booneville in control of the ball in front of its bench. Belmont’s Hailey Ivey stepped in front of a cross-court pass and raced to score a contested layup with 6.5 seconds left.
Her ensuing free throw made it a three-point play and gave Belmont an improbable 40-39 victory on Friday at the Mississippi Coliseum.
The Lady Cardinals (24-6) had lost two regular-season meetings vs. Booneville (26-2), but Belmont coach Chris Higginbottom wasn't concerned about that in the final 10 seconds.
“I told our team during the timeout that we were fixing to go steal the ball,” Higginbottom said. “And that we are fixing to win the state championship, and that is exactly what happened.”
It is the program's 13th state championship, its first since 2021.
Belmont overcame adversity after point guard Carlie Brock and shooting guard Alaina Hubbard both fouled out with less than three minutes to play.
The Lady Cardinals played a sagging zone defense in the middle to slow Booneville’s 6-foot-2 Saniyah Cook, Miss Basketball in 3A, to 13 points. Guard Kylee Johnson led the Lady Blue Devils in scoring with 15 points. Ivey led Belmont with 17 points.
Booneville coach Michael Smith said the turnover was his fault didn't win its third consecutive championship.
“I have to do a better job of coaching those moments and keep us poised and reiterate that we have timeouts," Smith said. "I just didn’t. I failed them.”
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: How Belmont girls basketball's last-second steal dethroned Booneville for 3A championship
Local News
Comments / 0