For three quarters on Tuesday night, the Heritage Christian Academy Lady Warriors led the Lighthouse Lady Eagles, but were pushed to overtime and ultimately lost 49-47. Lighthouse is a team comprised of home-schooled students and operates out of Wake Forest, NC. The loss snaps the Lady Warriors’ ten-game winning streak, leaving them at 14-2 on the year.
The first quarter was back and forth, with freshman Kinley Deason scoring on a layup with twenty seconds to go, giving the Lady Warriors their largest lead at 10-7. Lighthouse hit a jumper at the buzzer to cut the lead to 1 going into the second quarter.
With 4:38 to play in the half, Lighthouse tied the game at 13, and took the lead at 15-14 on two free throws with 2:30 left. However, the Lady Warriors closed with a runner from senior Rachel West and a bucket from senior Hope Flournoy to take a 18-16 lead into the locker room. West led HCA with 6 points, followed by junior Chelsea Dortch with 5.
Dortch nailed a three pointer a minute into the third quarter to stretch the lead to 21-16, but HCA couldn’t pull away and a Lighthouse layup and foul tied the game at 25. The Lady Eagles went to the line with :14.7 left and a chance to take the lead, but missed both. Dortch made them pay, knocking down a three pointer at the third-quarter buzzer to give the Lady Warriors a 28-25 lead.
Dortch again gave HCA a five-point lead with a basket with 5:15 to play, and they maintained at least a three-point lead until they called a timeout with 1:26 remaining, clinging to a 38-36 lead. With :20 left on the clock, West converted two free throws and the Lady Warriors appeared to be in control at 42-38. However, a Lady Warrior foul sent Lighthouse to the line and they hit both to cut the lead to 2. Lighthouse put HCA on the line, and the Lady Warriors left the door open by missing the front end of a one and one with :11.3 to play. Lighthouse called a timeout to draw up a final shot, and Heritage Coach Matt McGowan called a timeout of his own after he got a look at the way Lighthouse was setting up the inbounds. McGowan made the right adjustment, as Lighthouse couldn’t get the ball inbounds and were called for five seconds. The Lady Warriors seemed to be on the verge of the win, but a turnover on the inbounds pass gave Lighthouse a breakaway layup just before the buzzer to send the game to overtime at 42-42.
The Lady Eagles scored first in overtime and held the lead until a Deason layup with two minutes to play put the Lady Warriors back on top at 46-45. Dortch and West both fouled out within thirty seconds of each other, depriving the Lady Warriors of their two top scorers for the rest of the way. Both teams missed two free throws, and the rebound on Lighthouse’s second miss resulted in a jump ball. The possession arrow gave the ball to HCA, but another turnover inbounding the ball handed Lighthouse a lay in to take the lead. With :9.3 left, Flournoy stepped to the line, hitting one of two, leaving Lighthouse with a one-point lead. HCA sent Lighthouse to the line, and they made one of two as well, giving the Lady Warriors a chance to tie or win with :4.9 left, but the long attempt fell short and Lighthouse escaped with the 49-47 win.
Dortch led the HCA with 18, including 13 in the second half. West finished with 16, Deason had 5 and Flournoy had 4 points and 7 rebounds. Freshman Abbi Bullock and sophomore Logan Gibson both chipped in a basket.