EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
GARDEN CITY — Trailing Garden City by 10 points midway through the fourth quarter, the Lady Redskins were in jeopardy of dropping a key Western Athletic Conference game and putting their top three playoff seed at risk. But a flurry of baskets and a record-setting three-point effort by Kylie Rhine lifted the Redskins to an improbable comeback and a 68-66 win in overtime.
After struggling early to get shots to fall, the Lady Redskins relied on defense to stay close. While the Lady Buffaloes relied on freshman Tegan Snodgrass to cut to the lane, the Lady Redskins were expecting Shamari Lewis to carry the load. Snodgrass and Lewis each scored seven points in the first quarter, and the Lady Buffaloes had an 11-9 lead.
The Lady Redskins spread the ball around in the second quarter, and the scoring picked up. Liberal drained four three pointers in the period with one each from Rhine, Trinity Olvera, Rubi Alvarez and Brooklyn Short to help the Lady Redskins erase a six-point deficit and take a 29-26 halftime lead.
But that lead didn’t last long.
Garden City erased the Lady Red advantage and regained the lead in the third quarter that was another defensive battle on both sides, and by the end of the quarter the Lady Buffs had a 43-40 lead.
Garden City extended the lead to 56-46.
Lady Redskins coach Brandi Fowler called a timeout, and whatever she told the team worked. Liberal responded with a 10-0 run to force a 56-56 tie, and the Lady Redskins used aggressive drives to the basket to either make baskets or get fouled. Liberal shot 14 free throws in the fourth quarter but only made six of them, but it was enough to tie the game 60-60 with 6.9 seconds to play in regulation.
Lewis had a free throw shot that could have given the Lady Redskins a one-point lead, but she missed, and even though the Lady Redskins rebounded, they couldn’t get a shot, and the game headed to overtime.
But the work done in the fourth quarter by the Lady Redskins by racking up fouls against the Lady Buffaloes paid off in the extra period.
Snodgrass fouled out early in overtime, and Mia Hannagan followed a pair of possessions later.
Liberal went to the line for 10 free throws in overtime but only made five of them. Without Snodgrass and Hannagan, the Lady Buffaloes struggled to keep possession of the ball, and the Lady Redskins built a three-point lead late when Rhine went back to the free throw line. She made one shot to give the Lady Redskins a four-point lead, and the Lady Buffaloes hit a two-point shot at the buzzer to cut the final to 68-66.
Rhine led the Lady Redskins with 27 points including two threes which gave her sole possession of the single-season three-point record at Liberal with 47.
Lewis scored 22 in the win to add to her career total that eclipsed 1,000 points two weeks ago in Hooker, Okla.
Snodgrass and Myah Korf led the Lady Buffaloes with 21 points each.
The win secured the No. 3 seed for the Lady Redskins for the Class 6A playoffs with one game remaining in the regular season tonight at Dodge City.
“It was a really good team win,” Rhine said. “It came down to heart. They are a good team with shooters. When they get hot, they get hot. But we’re the same. We won’t sit there and take it. Basketball is a game of runs, so we went on a run too.”
She can score, but she also likes to shut down the opposition.
“I love defense,” Rhine said. “It’s all about heart. You can’t just teach it. It’s all heart and hustle.”
And Rhine knows she can help from outside, but only if it helps achieve bigger goals.
“Shooting threes is my thing, but as a team we want to get to State and get some wins there,” she said. “We want to get a big win in Dodge City, guarantee our two home playoff games, and the rest is on us.”
With the dramatic finish and the 10-point fourth-quarter comeback, Fowler believed facing adversity will pay dividends in the playoff run.
“It was a great time of the season to have a game like this,” she said. “We talked about being battle tested. We’ve been in tight games, had to come back from deficits — to have a little of all of that mixed into this game was great. And we did it in a very hostile environment.”
Even when Liberal only made 13 of 24 free throws in the fourth quarter and overtime.
“We knew we had them on the ropes, so it was a matter of screen and roll, and take it to the hole,” Fowler said. “We weren’t perfect with our free throws, but those were the two we wanted at the line. They usually go in. Today, enough went in."
