Basketball fans got an early Christmas present Saturday afternoon in West Chester, courtesy of the Lakota West and Mason girls teams.
After nearly 32 minutes of tough, back-and-forth action, Lakota West won 51-50 on a free throw from Abby Prohaska with 1.8 seconds left.
There was a lot on the line for both teams. As of this week, Lakota West and Mason were tied at No. 2 in the Ohio girls basketball poll for Division I. They each also had perfect Greater Miami Conference records.
Someone had to fall. But as both teams battled, tied at 50 for the last 80 seconds, it was anyone’s guess as to who it would be.
“Do I feel like we played very well, do the girls feel like they played very well? Not necessarily,” Lakota West coach Andy Fishman said. “Fortunately, we made enough plays to overcome fouling too much and missing free throws.”
As has been the case many times during her stellar career in a Firebirds uniform, Prohaska proved to be the key in the long run. After quickly getting two fouls in the first quarter, the senior guard was forced to sit out most of the first half. It was a development Fishman called “huge.”
“The fact that we weathered that storm was significant,” Fishman said. “It could have been a different story going into the locker room.”
Mason won the first half 29-28, thanks largely to near-perfect free-throw shooting. Free throws accounted for 20 of the Comets’ final tally.
“We committed a lot of reach fouls that go against how we’re trying to play defense … I felt like we bailed them out by letting them get to the line,” Fishman said. “It almost cost us the game.”
Prohaska’s return in the second half immediately made a difference, especially on defense. In the final minutes of the third quarter, she snatched a Mason pass out of midair, leading Lakota West to take a five-point lead, its biggest of the day at that point.
By the time she sunk that game-winning free throw, Prohaska finished with 14 points, leading all scorers. But she was far from the only impressive player on the court.
Sade Tucker, the shortest player on either roster at 5-foot-3, set the gritty tone for Mason early. The junior nailed seven free throws and was quick to cut through a lane that had even a sliver of open space. Comets sophomore Megan Wagner was a constant offensive presence as well, hitting Mason’s biggest shot of the game to tie it at 50 with 1:45 left. Tucker and Wagner each finished with 11 points, leading Mason.
“We’ve got to get better at making decisions in big game-time situations,” Mason coach Rob Matula said. “That’s what you hope you learn from a game like this.”
Matula, in his 13th season at Mason, won his 300th career game Wednesday night in a 46-21 thumping of Lakota East. But his 301st will have to wait at least another 12 days.
After each lost its opening game, Mason and Lakota West haven’t looked back. Coming into Saturday’s meeting, Mason had won its last five games by an average margin of 38.8 points; similarly, Lakota West had won its previous six by an average margin of 36.2 points.
Both coaches knew this could be a season-defining game despite coming so early in the year.
“This is always the big one,” Matula said. “And this is usually what happens. It comes down to something like this.”
“The bottom line is that the (GMC) goes through Mason, Lakota West and Princeton,” Fishman said.
Now at 6-0 in GMC play, Lakota West has proven itself the team to beat. But Matula, with his girls at 5-1 in league play, said he has other things on his mind.
“Yeah, we’d like to win the league, but when tournament time comes around, we’d like to see who advances the farthest,” the Mason coach said. “It’s still early.”
Lakota West’s December schedule is brutal. After facing Ohio’s No. 3-ranked Mason, they will host Wayne and No. 4-ranked McAuley on Dec. 28 and 29, respectively, as part of their Kemba Classic Holiday Hoopsfest.
Mason travels to Naples, Florida to face Louisville (Ky.) Male High School on Dec. 28 in the opening round of the Naples Holiday Shootout.
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