With the game tied 19-19 and 16 seconds left on the clock, McLean County’s Bailey Ferguson stepped into a wide-open three-point basket to give her team a 22-19 victory over Grayson County in one Green River Valley Conference semi-final game Wednesday evening in Cougar Gym.
The Lady Cougars had scored six straight points in the fourth quarter, capped by Gracie Escue’s rebound basket with 35 seconds left, to tie the game at 19-19.
McLean called a timeout with 22.6 seconds left to talk things over. Back on the floor, McLean worked the ball around the outside until they found Ferguson alone on the left wing. Her shot was pure, drawing nothing but net.
The Lady Cougars brought the ball up the court and had a good shot to try and tie the game again, but the shot was well off the mark, and when McLean rebounded the ball, they began celebrating their upset victory over the top-seeded Lady Cougars.
McLean’s Kenadi Level led all scorers with eight points.
Escue and Lucy Tarrance both finished with six points to lead the Lady Cougars. Escue also grabbed eight rebounds to share the team lead with Kenedi Green, who also scored four points. Breigh Jones scored three points to round out the Lady Cougar scoring.
McLean County will face Butler County in the GRVC final. Butler County defeated Ohio County 37-27 in the opener. The seventh-grade final will be held at 5:30 p.m. between Grayson County and Ohio County.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
