The Brownstown/St. Emo girls basketball team rallied from a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to pull out a gritty 66-64 overtime victory over National Trail Conference rival Neoga on Thursday.
Freshman Madi Miller scored eight of the Bombers’ 10 points in the overtime frame, including the game-winning shot in the land with six seconds left. Miller scored all 12 of her points off the bench after the third quarter, helping BSE complete its comeback.
The Lady Bombers (10-3, 3-1 NTC) found themselves trailing by five points at halftime after a block/charge call went against them with 3.6 seconds to go and Neoga (9-2, 3-1 NTC) converted three free throws after being fouled beyond the arc with .1 seconds remaining before intermission.
The Lady Indians then went up seven points by scoring the first bucket of the second half, and it simply looked like it wasn’t going to be the Bombers’ night as several of its shots rimmed out in the third quarter and Neoga maintained a seven-point lead after scoring the first basket of the fourth quarter.
But the Lady Bombers battled back to take their first lead since the first quarter on a Presley Williams basket with a little more than four minutes to go. The Lady Bombers went up three points, 56-53, after Williams hit a free throw with 39 seconds remaining, but Neoga converted three of four free throws in the closing seconds to send the game to overtime.
The teams continued going back and forth in the extra period, but Miller’s fourth field goal of OT gave BSE the final lead change with six seconds to go.
The win solidified the Lady Bombers as legitimate contenders in the loaded National Trail Conference as they snapped the Lady Indians’ nine-game winning streak. Neoga received seven votes in the latest Associated Press Class 1A state poll.
Freshman combined for 28 of BSE’s 62 points, as Dayana Haslett led the Lady Bombers with 16 points. Senior Lexi Seabaugh added 15 points and Williams finished with 13 points.
BSE will return to action Tuesday at Vandalia.
Brownstown/St. Elmo Scoring
Dayana Haslett — 16 points
Lexi Seabaugh — 15 points
Presley Williams — 13 points
Madi Miller — 12 points
Abbi Ledbetter — 3 points
Jaydin Huddleston — 2 points
Addie Sasse — 2 points
Danika Ramsey — 1 point
