Huge late rally for 4-4A win leaves Lady Hawks giddy
MARYVILLE — Rarely in her 16 seasons coaching Hardin Valley Academy girls basketball has Jennifer Galloway been so giddy following a regular season win, at least in terms of expressing her joy, as Friday evening, Jan. 26, at William Blount.
Sluggish from a lack of practice time and games due to the recent snow and ice, Galloway’s Lady Hawks were trailing big-time against a Lady Govs team it had beaten by 18 points just a couple of weeks earlier at HVA.
Trailing 38-19 in the in the final 90 seconds of the third quarter, and 39-23 with just beyond five minutes to play, Hardin Valley got a spark from two of its junior leaders.
“I was telling the girls, ‘I don’t know that I’ve been a part of something like this,’” Galloway said about the stunning 50-48 overtime victory. “You could tell that it had been two weeks since we played, but these girls just stuck with what we do, which is play good defense, play hard and never give up.”
Point guard Kyndra West nailed a three-point jumper with 5:04 left, cutting the lead to 39-26 while igniting the spark that eventually became one of the greatest, if not the greatest, comeback wins in program history.
The other main weapon late, junior wing Ava Claire Wrather, hit the game-tying three-point basket from the corner with just four second left in regulation.
To seal the deal in overtime, Wrather then made a nice move to the basket, down the middle of the lane, before her 10-foot pull-up jumper with just five seconds left in extra time capped the 50-48 victory — an set off a brief celebration.
The win also kept HVA, 11-9 overall, perfect in District 4-4A at 3-0 entering the week.
“What really happened is I got really angry,” said Wrather, who scored 13 of her game-high 18 total points during the rally. “And when I get angry, that’s when I play my best.
“And I just love this team,” she added.
“They always motivate me to play harder and better because I want to win for them.”
“I mean, AC just went off that last quarter,” said West, who herself scored 10 of her 15 total points during the rally. “I don’t know how many three she hit, but she had a bunch. I think that really pushed us and motivated us and gave us the energy.”
Kamryn Butcher added six points for the Lady Hawks, while Harper Abercrombie scored four, Lily Adkisson three, and two points each for Kamiyah Love and Holly Lindsey.
