After being held without a field goal in Saturday's 7-1 loss, the 6th grade girls scored just seconds into the game, and came out with a heart stopping 12-11 win to clinch a playoff spot.
Fiona scored on a fast break off of a nice pass from Jamie to start the game, but then the girls played a similar first half like yesterday's game, doing everything but scoring.
Defensively they were solid and they rebounded a lot better than they did yesterday as they took a 2-0 lead into halftime.
Even with just a two point lead, you could tell the girls had a lot more confidence in their step and were just on the brink of breaking out. And they finally did.
The girls exploded in the 3rd quarter off of buckets from Rebecca, her first career made shot, Edwena and Kelly that gave the girls an 8-0 lead going into the fourth.
After the other team finally scored on a free throw, Victoria got a shot to bank in and the girls led 10-1.
But the other team made a furious run, scoring 6 straight to cut the deficit to 10-7 with a little under two minutes to go.
Their press that was stifling for the bulk of the second half all of a sudden went south in the crucial moments of the game. The other team was able to weave around the girls too easily, unimpeded to the bucket.
Hanging on for dear life, the girls got a much needed basket with about a minute to go from Lesly. Their press created a turnover in the backcourt, and Lesly sailed in for an easy lay-up.
The other team then came back and scored on a giveaway by the 6th graders in the backcourt, and then they hit two free throws that made it a one point game with 15.5 seconds to go.
Victoria just escaped the 5 second count underneath the 6th grade's hoop and got it to Fiona who appeared to be trapped in the corner. But Fiona was able to fling the ball upcourt to a wide open Lesly, who was able to kill valuable seconds off the clock as she dribbled towards the basket.
Not needing a shot, Lesly shoveled it to Victoria who then passed it back up to to Fiona and the time expired.
What was more important than the fact that the 6th grade girls are playoff bound was their resiliency after such a frustrating game a day ago.
Following Saturday's loss when they were held to just one point, the girls broke the post-game huddle visibly shaken, shoulders slumped and faces dragging. One girl even threw her water bottle at the floor in frustration.
So for them to come back, play inspired basketball and beat a team that had beaten them a weak before shows the growth and character of these girls.
The first half was almost as frustrating as Saturday since the girls were unable to make a shot, but they stuck with it, and eventually the shots began to fall.
A win like this should do wonders for their confidence as they play their season finale next week in preparation for their first career playoff game.
Each basket the 6th grade made came from a different girl as six of the nine girls scored in Sunday's win.
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