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Allmon watched his team get behind big early, climb back into the game in the second half, and nearly win it at the end of regulation. But where he was most pleased with their effort was in overtime.
East star Anna Freeman was disqualified from the game with her fifth foul in the first OT, leaving the Lady Golden Eagles without their main weapon for the final 1:31. Still, East gritted their teeth and forced a second overtime, but the loss of Freeman eventually caught up with them late.
“We definitely missed her when she fouled out, but they hung in and they made some plays after that,” said Allmon. “I don’t believe our girls will ever quit and they showed me that tonight.”
East stood a chance of claiming victory at the end of regulation setting up several scenario’s in a time out with 21 seconds left, but all they could get was a quick shot from Haley Grimsley that fell short.
“We had a couple things set up that we thought we could do, but it got tipped around and [we] didn’t get set up exactly right,” said Allmon.
Then came the exit for Freeman in overtime, but East still maintained a 53-51 lead with 59 seconds left. Shanequia Phifer proceeded to score on a layup for Salisbury to force the second overtime.
Now having to play an entire half of a quarter without Freeman, East struggled to put the ball in the hole and watched the Hornets buzz away. Salisbury scored the first 10 points of the overtime, and by the time Elizabeth Merritt’s layup with 19 seconds fell, the Lady Golden Eagles were too far down and left to wonder ‘what if?’
“It is extremely frustrating,” said East junior Alyssa Cutshaw of coming one shot away from a win. “You get that close, and it is just a really big letdown.”
In the first half the Lady Eagles took an 11-8 lead at the end of one behind some hot shooting from Cutshaw. The southpaw bomber buried three 3s in the frame and kept it going from there.
Her fourth straight three of the night came at a crucial time for East as the Hornets were inching ahead. She spotted up in the corner and touched nothing but net to close within one at the 5:05 mark.
“We wanted to beat Salisbury so bad, so I knew that everybody had to be on their game and we would have to play hard,” said Cutshaw. “I did what I could.”
Two minutes later, though, the game changed drastically for the Lady Eagles when Freeman picked up her third foul of the half. With her taking a seat, Salisbury was led by Phifer and Shi-Heria Shipp, who guided the team to a 30-22 halftime lead.
Second half, the Hornets made a conscious effort to stay with the hot-shooting Cutshaw. They were successful in holding her to five points over the final 24 minutes.
“After she [Cutshaw] hit all those in the first half, I think they finally just put the clamps down on her,” said Allmon. “If maybe one more of those would have gone, who knows.”
Freeman made them pay in different ways when they focused on the outside. She was able to lead East in the third and fourth quarter when it appeared Salisbury would gallop to a victory.
The Hornets went up by 11 at 37-26 in the third on a Shipp fade-away, but Freeman calmed the storm with savvy play and a strong heart to. Her back-to-back putbacks got East within one at 43-41 midway through the fourth, and a third offensive stickback gave them the lead with 3:42 left. East would lead by as much as four with Cutshaw lobbing to Freeman for two, but Salisbury clawed back to further the game into extra sessions.
Cutshaw and Freeman finished the title game with 17 points each. Salisbury was led by Phifer’s 18.
East falls to 22-4 on the season, and will be the No. 2 seed for the state playoffs starting Monday.