The famous saying of, “It ain’t over til it’s over,” was never more evident than it was last Wednesday evening, as the Lexington Minutewomen Girls Basketball Team, trailing by 9 points with a little over two minutes left, put together a comeback for the ages, as they roared from behind, and came within a hair of a miracle finish, before falling in the end 46 to 45 to the Higginsville Lady Huskers in a District semi-final game at Lone Jack High School.

As was expected, this game was close from the git go, as LaNiya Davis drained a 3 pointer and converted 2 free throws, while Kinsley Worthington and Audrie Bollmeyer each had a basket, and Zoey Earnest swished a free throw in the first quarter, and the Minutewomen led 10-9, at the close of the period.

The two teams stayed within a couple of points of each other throughout the second period, as Earnest had 4 points, while Davis tallied another 3 in the second quarter, and that was it, as the Lady Huskers led 19-18 at the end of a low scoring first half.

Davis drained two more 3s and had a 2 pointer in the third period, while Ellie Lichte had a bucket, but Higginsville threatened to pull away, as they outscored the Lexington Girls 15-10 in the stanza, and they led 34-28 with only one quarter left to play.

The Lady Huskers kept it going for a good part of the fourth quarter, and led by as many as 9 points several times. The Minutewomen pulled to within 6 points with 3:20 left in the contest, but Higginsville scored 4 more points and led 43-34 with only 2:17 left, and it looked to be all but over.

However, the Lexington Girls were not about to throw in the towel, and a miraculous comeback began. Davis got it started with a basket and one, and then scored again, after a Higginsville free throw by Addison Frerking to make it a 5 point game. Claudia Kouril then converted one free throw for Higginsville, but Earnest scored inside, and then grabbed a rebound and scored again, and the Minutewomen had pulled to within 45-43. After Frerking hit one of two free throws to put the Huskers up by 3, Lexington had one more chance, with about 20 seconds left. Lexington almost lost the ball, but Kai Sheperd picked it up, nailed a shot under the basket, and got fouled with 4 seconds left to pull The Minutewomen within one point, with a chance to tie things up. Sheperd’s potentially game tying free throw danced on the rim before falling off, and after a mad scramble, Higginsville knocked the ball out of bounds giving Lexington one more chance, but there was only fourtenths (.4) of a second on the clock. Almost a miracle finish, as Davis launched the inbounds pass toward the basket, and Earnest leaped up and snatched the pass in a crowd under the bucket. There was not enough time to do much of anything, and Earnest was off balance, but she somehow got a quick shot away just ahead of the buzzer, but it fell short, and Higginsville escaped with the 46 to 45 win. It should be noted that Lexington outscored Higginsville 11-3, in the final 2+ minutes of the game.

Davis and Earnest, playing their final game for the Minutewomen, had 21 and 13 points respectively, while Chloe Tyler led Higginsville with 22 points. The Minutewomen wrapped up the season with a record of 13-12, while Higginsville wound up 13-15, after their 59-48 loss to Lone Jack in the District Championship game.

Lexington Box Score: Kai Sheperd 1 1-5 3; Zoey Earnest 5 3-5 13; Ellie Lichte 1 0-0 2; Mylan Huffman 0 0-0 0; LaNiya Davis 7 3-3 21; Audrie Bollmeyer 2 0-0 4; Kinsley Worthington 1 0-0 2. Three Point Goals: Davis 4.