Game 21 – Marist (Ga.) 60, Oak Ridge 57

(Game 21) Marist (Ga.) 60, Oak Ridge 57

Oak Ridge’s Lady Wildcats took Marist of Georgia to the limit, but couldn’t pull off the upset as the defending tournament champs moved on to the semifinals with a 60-57 win Friday night.

Kate Harpring, after scoring 45 in a Thursday night win, followed up that performance with 35 points and 15 rebounds against the Wildcats, continuing to entertain the Ladies Classic crowd with her talents that make the game of basketball look so easy.

The contest was see-saw all the way. Marist took the lead for keeps at 58-57 with 1:20 left on a bucket from Katie Elder. Oak Ridge missed a shot and the Wildcats were forced to foul. They fouled Eloise Smith, who failed to connect on either of her shots, but Marist got the ball back when the battle for the rebound went out of bounds.

Harpring was fouled and almost unbelievably missed two tosses. But an Oak Ridge player was whistled for getting into the lane too quickly on the second shot and she was given another toss, which she made to put the score at 59-57.

Oak Ridge missed a chance to tie with an errant shot, and Harpring was fouled again with 14 seconds left. She missed the first but made the second for a 60-57 lead. Oak Ridge called time out with 9 seconds to go to set up a 3-point shot, but Harpring cleanly blocked the shot attempt by Ayana Porter to end the game.

Elder chipped in with 15 points for Marist.

Oak Ridge got 21 points from Ze’Yana Stewart who had to be carried off with a knee injury in the closing seconds. Porter scored 17 and Euleesha Mitchell tallied 16.

Marist (60): Katie Elder 7-12 1-2 15, Smith 0-0 0-2 0, Prophater 1-3 0-0 2, Johnson 1-1 0-0 2, Kate Harpring 15-21 4-8 35, Morrison 0-1 2-2 2, Wilder 1-3 0-0 2, Buschmann 1-2 0-0 2, Shell 0-3 0-0 0. TOTALS: 26-46 7-14 60.

Oak Ridge (57): E.Mitchell 0-2 1-2 1, Ze’Yana Stewart 6-13 7-7 21, Ayana porter 6-14 0-0 17, Cleveland 0-1 0-0 0, Euleesha Mitchell 7-15 1-1 16, Pippins 1-4 0-1 2. TOTALS: 20-49 9-11 57.

3-Point Goals: MHS—1 (Harpring). OR—8 (Porter 5, Stewart 2, Mitchell).