LaFayette girls lose on last-second shot
BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — It was a season of ups and downs for the LaFayette High School girls’ basketball team as new faces helped lead the program to the brink of a playoff appearance after securing the most regular season wins since the 2021/22 season.
However, that journey was suddenly cut short after Reeltown High School (13-5, 3-3) hit a game-winning three-pointer in the final seconds to defeat the Lady Bulldogs (7-16, 3-3) 43-40 in the first round of the girls’ 2A Area 6 tournament on Feb. 5.
Immediately following the game, LHS girls’ head basketball coach Travis Carswell complimented RHS’ ability to stay in the game and give themselves a chance in the final seconds. Even though it was a small consolation prize, winning seven games and coming within a minute of a playoff berth after finishing 1-23 last year also showed improvement.
“We let them hang around in the game, we missed [shots], we had turnovers. That’s what fans don’t understand. They don’t see the stuff that accumulated before the last 14 seconds went down. So that’s part of the game. I mean, I’m still proud of our girls,” Carswell said. “Hats off [to them]. It was competition. It got a little chippy at the end, but that’s what you want. That’s part of it. Let’s take the good with the bad, learn from it, and be ready to go for next year.”
After wildly rallying and encouraging his players from the bench, RHS head girls’ basketball coach Ladarius Bell took a moment to take a deep breath after celebrating and took stock of an improbable comeback win.
“All the glory goes to God, man. We’ve been talking about just letting God lead us and show us the way to do it,” Bell said. “We’ve come a long way. Most of my girls are seventh and eighth grade players, but they’re playing hard, and they’re sticking to the process. That’s it. That’s all. And the girls from LaFayette, they played like they should have won the game too. We just so happened to hit the shot at the end, and we’re thankful for it.”
Crucial to the victory was freshman guard Jazlyn Fitzpatrick, whose three second half three-pointers helped fuel the come-from-behind victory. None was bigger than the first buzzer-beater of her young career.
“I saw that they were overplaying on defense, playing good [on the] help side. So I needed to find a way to get the ball and try to drive to the paint [to] either get a shot or make them foul. But I didn’t see that, so I just got back out and tried to get an open three to shoot,” Fitzpatrick said. “Honestly, I can’t even explain it. It just felt good to hit the game-winning three. I never hit one of those before.”
The game began as competitively as it ended after the Lady Bulldogs secured a 13-9 first-quarter lead, overcoming Sarenthia McKethern’s impressive presence in the paint on both ends of the court by attacking the lanes.
Entering the second quarter, an already hard-fought game became even more physical as LHS did just enough defensively to frustrate RHS and made opportunistic plays in the open court to cling to an 18-14 entering halftime.
Coming out of the break, Reeltown stormed the court by scoring six unanswered points in the opening two minutes to set them up for a fourth-quarter comeback, even as Z’niyah Boston and Kennedi Williams willed the Lady Bulldogs to the finish line.
That led to an incredibly tense atmosphere as the Lady Rebels and the Lady Bulldogs turned every possession into a war, battling to where the referees separated players after a scramble for a loose ball led to exchanged words. Then, the Lady Rebels won the ball with 14 seconds left and inbounded the ball to Fitzpatrick, who drained the nothing-but-net shot from the top of the key as time expired.
McKethern led all scorers with 20 points for the Lady Rebels while Fitzpatrick added nine points. Boston and Williams powered the Lady Bulldogs with 17 and 12 points, respectively.
