LANDRUM, SC - The final day of the 23rd annual Battle at the Border tournament started with a game that didn't want to end as it took two overtimes for the Boiling Springs girls' basketball team to come away with a 69-59 victory over rival Chapman.
"When we came into the first two days of the tournament we were playing down and low so we decided to come into this game today and just play our game," said Bulldogs head coach Leslie Mills. "We got back to our intensity level that we like to bring and I'm very proud of how well the girls played." With time running down in the fourth quarter is when the excitement really began in the matchup as Chapman overcome a nine-point deficit going into the quarter. Boiling Springs held a 48-47 lead before Kylie McMillian hit one of two free throws to push their lead to 49-47 over the Panthers. With just three seconds left in the game, the Bulldogs fouled Chapman's Clara Gramling on what was called an intentional foul and Gramling was able to make both free throws to send the game into overtime at 49-49, as the Panthers were unable to get a shot up on their ensuing possession. Boiling Springs worked to fend off Chapman's run in the fourth quarter and one of the bench players that really stepped up in the quarter was Joselin Martinez-Trejo who got four points and two rebounds all in the quarter. Gramling started the overtime period with a big three-pointer to give Chapman a 52-49 lead to start the overtime period. Chapman held the lead most of the overtime period until the Bulldogs Natalie Trudell stole a Panthers pass before being fouled, she then went to the free throw line to make two of two free throws giving Boiling Springs their first lead of overtime at 55-54. Clara Gramling struck again for the Panthers on the next possession as she hit a clutch three-pointer from the left side with ten seconds left in overtime, to give Chapman a 57-55 lead. With time running down the Bulldogs Kylie McMillian drove down the court and drove to the basket for a layup that rimmed out but fellow Bulldog Dallas Smith was in the right place at the right time as she grabbed the rebound from the court and shot the ball which landed in the net just as the lights on the backboard went off signaling the end of overtime tying the Bulldogs with the Panthers at 57-57 and sending the game to a double overtime. "That was big a play from Dallas because we struggle as a team with those putback plays," said Mills. "It was a big time play from her and when she put that ball back in, I was just ecstatic." Smith also made the first basket of double overtime for the Bulldogs to give them a 59-57 lead. From that point on the Bulldogs outscored the Panthers 10-2 over the rest of the quarter, with points from Smith (2), McMillian (6), and Ezell (2), helping to seal the victory for the Bulldogs. Boiling Springs had two players finish with double-doubles against the Panthers as Kylie McMillian had 28 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, and four steals while Sarah Ezell also finished with a double-double with 20 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks, two steals, and an assist. "Those two players are super important to our success," said Mills. "When we went to a tournament last week, Sarah was down with an ankle injury, so we tried to get her to rest over the break to get ready for this tournament. Sarah came back super strong in this tournament and Kylie is also just a leading force for us at the point guard position." Clara Gramling, who was named All-Tournament for Chapman, led the Panthers and all scorers with 30 points and four steals in the game while she was joined in double figures by Krislyn Wilder who had 16 points and six rebounds. Kylie McMillian was named to the All-Tournament team for Boiling Springs after averaging 20 points and 8.6 rebounds per game for the tournament. Boiling Springs will be back in action on January 3rd in a road game against Hillcrest while Chapman will return to play in home game against Carolina on January 6th. Comments are closed.
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