The finale of the NTC vs. CIC Clash at Altamont High School between AP Class 1A #5 Altamont and #4 Tuscola on Saturday night brought the excitement and more than enough action as the Lady Indians got by the Warriors 53-52 for the upset win that also marked their 17th consecutive win. Altamont got off to a bit of a rocky start as they were outrebounded in the first quarter and suffered a couple timely turnovers to trail 18-13 at the end of the quarter. The Lady Indians began to right the ship in the second quarter as they went on a 7-1 run including a three from Brianna Grunloh to take a 20-19 lead. After Tuscola regained the lead with a bucket, the Lady Indians hit back to back baskets to go ahead 24-22 and extend it to 28-22 on two made free throws from Grace Nelson followed by a field goal from Nelson. Claire Boehm would take over on the next two possessions hitting back to back runners in the lane as Altamont led 32-22 and held a 34-26 halftime lead. Coming out to start the second half, Altamont was held to just 11 points, but just outscored Tuscola 11-10 as they put up a balanced scoring attack with buckets from Skylie Klein, Kaylee Lurkins, Nelson, Boehm and Peyton Osteen in the quarter for a 45-36 lead at the end of the third. Tuscola began storming back quickly at the start of the fourth quarter going on a 8-2 run to cut it to 47-44. After a steal and score by Nelson, Tuscola hit a three to tie the game at 49-49. Again Nelson came through with a basket but Tuscola answered with another three to take the lead again 52-51. Altamont would get the ball back and Nelson was fouled and went to the free throw line with 1:41 left in the game and drained both free throws as the Lady Indians snatched the lead back, 53-52. Altamont would have two quick scoring opportunities but missed on both and still clung to just a one point lead. A strong defensive effort that nearly resulted in a jump ball, forced Tuscola to take a timeout before a jump ball could be called at 20.7 seconds left in the game. After Altamont was able to keep Tuscola from scoring for the next 19 seconds, a jump ball was called after a tie up with 1.7 and the Warriors had the arrow and took the ball out on their baseline. As the inbounds came in, Nelson was able to get a hand on the ball and knock it away as the clock ran out and the #5 Lady Indians held on for the 53-52 upset win over #4 Tuscola. The win also pushed the Lady Indians current win streak to 17 games as they are 19-2 on the season. They will look to secure their 20th win of the season on Tuesday as they begin play in the National Trail Conference Girls Basketball Tournament. They are the #1 seed and will await the winner of Monday’s play-in game between #8 seed South Central and #9 seed North Clay to see who their opponent will be for their quarterfinal game on Tuesday at 6:00pm.
Altamont Scoring:
Grace Nelson – 24 points
Peyton Osteen – 10 points
Brianna Grunloh – 7 points
Claire Boehm – 4 points
Kaylee Lurkins – 4 points
Kylie Osteen – 2 points
Skylie Klein – 2 points
