Junior, Madison Terry (34) sank a three- pointer at teh buzzer Saturday Night to tie up the game which sent the Ladies in to overtime.
Two points in the five minutes tacked on to regulation were all that separated the Big Sandy Lady Pioneers from ending an agonizing losing streak Saturday in Chester.
Madison Terry nailed a three-pointer with three seconds left on the clock to knot the game against CJI at 35. At that point, it seemed to many of the Big Sandy faithful that destiny finally favored their hard-luck squad.
Alas, it proved only a tease. The Hi-Line Hawks held homecourt and gritted out a 41-39 overtime win.
"It was a heartbreaker," said Pioneer girls head coach Pete Jerrel. "It was probably the best game we've played all season."
Big Sandy continued to rely on three-point shooting to spark the offense in the nailbiter. Senior Seanna Demontiney drained a pair as part of her team-high 12 points. Senior Lainey Gregory added 11 points, including a trio of treys.
The Pioneers rebounded competitively from a rough night at home Friday against the taller Turner Tornadoes. Led by senior Shyan Krass, listed at 6 feet, 1 inch, the Tall-nadoes presented a towering challenge for the home team.
"They're tall. They're big," Jerrel said. "So it's hard down low. We don't have much size."
The game played out much as it did in the Pioneers' prior contest against North Star. Big Sandy took an early lead of 6-4 boosted by a pair of three-pointers by Gregory. Turner took a timeout and adjusted more than adequately.
"They stopped going inside because we were taking away Krass," Jerrel said of the opening minutes.
Yet it turned out the Turner guards could also shoot when needed and the inside-outside combo soon proved to be a knockout punch. With Krass swatting away whatever came her way underneath the basket, the Pioneers could not establish any penetration on the offensive end.
Only a first-quarter lay-in by Demontiney and a triple she splashed in during the second period added to Big Sandy's total and they trailed 42-11 at the half.
Again the Pioneers looked to their youthful bench to gain some experience and show resilience in the face of a daunting challenge. The teams played much closer to even in the second half and Turner came out with a 68-30 win.
"We played better ... passed the ball around a bit," Jerrel said. "Amy Gasvoda got her name in the scorebook for us and played some good defense."
The Lady Pioneers (0-7, 1-9) continue their quest for a win in the 9C when they host Chinook at 6 p.m Thursday. They travel for a 6 p.m. Saturday tilt at Hays.
