CAMDEN — Desperately needing a victory to still have a chance to qualify for the 5A state tournament, the Camden Fairview Lady Cardinals lost a 63-62 heart breaker in overtime Friday night to the Lakeside Lady Rams.
After being called for a questionable foul with 1.1 seconds remaining in overtime, Lakeside’s Mariah Perrigo sank the first of two free throws to give Lakeside the win. Perrigo missed the second, but Camden Fairview couldn’t even get off a final shot after the securing the rebound before the final buzzer went off.
Perrigo’s final free throw came just seconds after CF sophomore Mikeya Haygood hit two baskets in 11 seconds to tie the game at 62-all. Lakeside had already pulled off a big comeback of its own, rallying from a 52-46 deficit with 90 seconds to play in regulation to tie the contest at 53-53 and send the game into an extra four minutes of game time.
While never happy to see his players hurting, CF girls coach Johnny Jackson noted that seeing the pained faces of his players confirmed that the Lady Cardinals had never quit fighting, or believing that they could have extended their season.
Although a few other games still had to fall in Camden Fairview’s favor both Friday night and Saturday, Jackson was so convinced that those games would go in the Lady Cardinals’ favor, he basically said straight-forward that if Camden Fairview had won on Friday, they would have been in the state tournament.
“This is a very hard pill to swallow,” Jackson said. “I think what everyone has to understand is that there is always human error involved in things like this. I know a lot of people will question whether or not that call should have been made, but there were missed free throws, times we didn’t block out and missed defensive assignments we had that would have kept it from ever coming down to a final call.”
The Lady Cardinals and Lady Rams hooked up in a highly competitive, classic contest the entire night, with Haygood hitting a running 3-point shot at the first-quarter buzzer to give the home team a 15-11 advantage early.
Lakeside, needing a win to secure the No. 2 seed for the state tournament, battled back with their size, however, and quickly tied the game at 20-all. After a shot by Jalisa Avery briefly tied the game again at 22-all, the Lady Rams forged their way to a 27-25 halftime lead, with only a 3-pointer by Avery keeping the Lady Cards that close.
The two teams continued to battle tooth-and-nail throughout the second stanza though, with Camden Fairview running out to a 34-39 lead early in the third, only to see Lakeside tie the game again at 34-all.
Camden Fairview was able to go ahead again when Haygood scored on rebound despite being fouled, and Jada McKinney rebounded her ensuing missed free throw for another score. Avery added another fast break score despite being fouled, and Camden Fairview led 39-36 to start the fourth.
CF’s lead grew as much as 48-39 with just under three minutes to play, and the Lady Cards still led 52-46 when Lakeside got a free throw, and an offensive putback on the ensuing missed free throw to get within 52-49. A steal under the basket for another score got the Lady Rams within one point, before Chantry Ross hit 1 of 2 free throws with 34.5 seconds left to put Camden Fairview up 53-51.
Lakeside then got a tying offensive putback from Mattie Nester - the third offensive rebound on the possession - to knot the game at 53-all with 13 seconds left, before Camden Fairview missed a running shot at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
In the extra period, Lakeside scored six quick point to take a 59-53 lead before Camden Fairview battled back with a 3-pointer by Ross and two free throws by Haygood to get within 62-58 with 43.1 seconds remaining. Camden Fairview was able to force a turnover with its full court press, and Haygood drove in for a basket before Avery came up with a steal, and Haygood rolled in another shot with only five seconds ticking down on the clock. Perrigo was then bumped under the basket and after taking the inbound pass, and Camden Fairview was called for a foul with 1.1 seconds left showing on the clock to set up the final free throw.
Haygood, the skilled sophomore who went on to lead the Lady Cardinals in scoring for the season after joining the team at semester, finished with 26 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Avery added 10 points, while seniors Ross, McKinney and Sorgourney Tooks added six points each. Ross also had seven rebounds, while McKinney pulled down six.
“I am so very proud of our senior class. What we have going now, we’re going to look back and say, ‘They helped us get this thing started,’” Jackson said of his team, noting the Lady Cardinals (8-19 overall) won five of their last 14 games after Christmas, and lost several close games in the nine games they did come up short in.
“It wasn’t easy for our seniors this year coming in with a new coach, but they bought into what we were doing, and I think what this program is going to be, I think they showed people that tonight,” Jackson said, noting it was the No. 2 team in the conference the Lady Cardinals took to overtime with a chance to win. “I’m just really proud to be the coach at Camden Fairview right now. The administration, from (athletic director) Ricky Tucker, to (deputy superintendent) Fred Lilly, to (assistant principal) Gary Steelman and (principal) Wilma House and (superintendent) Robert Davis, everyone has just been so great. This isn’t the ending we wanted, but our program has just begun, and I think the sky is the limit for these girls. We’re going to take a week off, and then we’ll get right back at it.”