Anna Grace Goodwin’s buzzer-beating three-point basket gave Glencoe a 56-55 victory over Locust Fork in the Class 3A subregional playoffs in girls basketball on Monday, Feb. 11, at Locust Fork.
With the Lady Yellow Jackets trailing by two points and with under four second left, Anna Beth Giles dribbled the ball to halfcourt under heavy pressure and found Goodwin (pictured above), whose last-second shot attempt found the net as the game clock expired.
Glencoe (20-8) will face Weaver on Monday, Feb. 18, in the Northeast Regional Tournament semifinals at Jacksonville State. The Lady Yellow Jackets fell to Pisgah in the regional finals last season.
Giles finished just shy of a triple double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. She also came up with three steals.
Ashley Morgan added 11 points, followed by Lauren Cole with 10, Goodwin with eight and Abby Vice and Aubrey Gray with six each. Morgan and Cole each grabbed eight rebounds, while Gray pulled down five.
The Lady Yellow Jackets led by 18 points after three quarters before Locust Fork shot 83 percent from the field over the final eight minutes. In eight out of their first nine possessions in the fourth quarter, the Lady Hornets either made a three-point basket or converted a traditional three-point play.
“We pretty much dominated through three quarters, and our defense was outstanding,” said Glencoe head coach Daniel Cook. “Then things got crazy in the fourth [quarter].”
Locust Fork’s Reagan Fuller hit a runner in the lane with 16 seconds left to give the Lady Hornets a 53-51 lead, then Morgan tied it with a driving layup with six seconds left.
Following a timeout, Locust Fork’s Carissa Horton pulled up inside the three-point line and hit a jump shot.
The Lady Yellow Jackets had to inbound the ball with 3.6 seconds left and no time-outs remaining. Cook called for Glencoe’s version of the Hail Mary pass in football.
“We have a desperation play called ‘Dear Lord Jesus,’ said Cook. “We ran it a lot during the season at the end of practices and situational periods but it has never worked.”
After setting a back screen for Anna Beth Giles at halfcourt on the opposite side of the court from the ball, Goodwin curled back behind the defense to the wing on the other side of the court.
Giles fought through a second screen to receive the inbounds pass, then came off a screen and passed ahead up the court to Goodwin, who had spotted up about five feet behind the three-point line. Goodwin released the shot with about 0.2 seconds on the game clock left.
“Anna Grace only had time to catch and shoot, and she drained it,” said Cook. “None of us will ever forget this game or that moment.”
Carrissa Horton paced Locust Ford with 23 points.
In other subregional action on Monday, Coosa Christian fell to Talladega County Central, 76-53, in Class 1A; Etowah lost to Center Point, 55-32, in Class 5A; and Sardis came up short to Scottsboro, 56-43, in Class 5A.
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