Marion senior guard Lindsay Hett looked very frustrated and bewildered when she missed a free throw with 11.6 seconds remaining in regulation in her Warriors’ girls semifinal matchup against Jefferson County North in the Class 3A state tournament.
Hett took some extra time to relax, drained the free throw, then came back and helped on defense keep the Chargers from getting off a good last second shot as the Warriors beat North 42-41 at Hutchinson Sports Arena.
“I just knew I should have made it,” Hett said about her first free throw attempt that bounced off the rim (the fifth straight miss for the Warriors in the final minute). “You hate to miss those in a close game like that. I knew I definitely knew I had to make the second one. It’s a big deal in a close game.”
The Chargers (23-2) went to their hot hand — sophomore Jordan Kramer who had scored 24 points in the game — for their final attempt at the win.
She drove around a pick, but had two Marion players in front of her as her shot went wild and bounced off the board away from the rim as the buzzer sounded.
The free throw capped a comeback by the Warriors (20-5) who had been down by five early in the fourth quarter. Hett and senior post Julia Zeiner scored six points in Marion’s 15-point final stanza. Marion scored six of the last seven points of the contest and North missed seven of its last eight shots.
“We knew that we just had to keep plugging along,” Zeiner said. “We knew we had to step up the defense so they couldn’t score and just continue to play our game.”
The Warriors started strong by scoring nine of the first 13 points, but missed their next 14 shots over the first half as North was able to push the lead to six in the final minute before intermission. Kayley Herley was able to get Marion back in the game with two three-pointers to cut the deficit to 16-15 at halftime.
“I just in that mind frame of shooting the ball the right way at the goal,” Herley said. “My teammates did a good job of setting the screens and making it easier for me to square up.”
Zeiner led the Warriors with 13 points, while Hett and Herley added 10 apiece.
Hett is having the birthday weekend of a lifetime. She said the Warriors making the state tournament was the present, and hitting the free throw was the icing on the cake.
