Overtime win lifts Lady Jags to final

BIRMINGHAM – Experience is one of the world’s greatest learning tools.

While not the situation the Spain Park High School girls basketball team wanted to be in, overcoming an 11-point deficit was nothing new for the Lady Jags.

Spain Park (21-11) overcame a double-digit deficit for the second time in the Class 7A playoffs, this time knocking off McGill-Toolen in overtime, 49-48, in an instant classic on Thursday at the BJCC’s Legacy Arena in the State Semifinals.

“The beginning of our tournament run, we were down 11 with six minutes to go and we gutted it out and made a great play right at the end,” Spain Park head coach Mike Chase said.

The Lady Jags tied the game at the end of regulation against Gadsden City in the regional semifinal and won in overtime, and essentially duplicated the feat against McGill-Toolen.

Claire Holt milked 30 seconds off the remaining clock in overtime before driving straight for the basket. She went up and absorbed the contact to draw the foul with just a few ticks left.

Holt buried the first free throw, and that was all Spain Park needed, as McGill was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer.

“This team has put in so much work,” said Holt, who finished the game with a team-high 20 points. “We have some of the best conditioning of anybody. We have early-morning practices. After all that, when you put that much effort into it, you don’t want to quit.”

The game was tied following a free throw from McGill’s Shauntai Battle, who scored a game-high 24 points, with 39.7 seconds remaining in the extra period.

Moments prior, Spain Park took the lead on a huge Mallory Duke 3-pointer, one of two dramatic shots she knocked down during the game.

“I knew I had to make it because we were down. I was shocked, and you could see the expression on my face,” she said.

Battle notched a pair of baskets to open up the overtime frame, as McGill took a 47-43 lead before Holt scored and Duke hit the big shot.

Spain Park’s comeback to force overtime was impressive on its own, but the Lady Jags nearly ended the contest in regulation. In a scenario much like the end of overtime, Holt milked the clock to the final seconds before driving to the hoop.

She found no resistance and attempted to kiss a short runner from straightaway off the glass. It rolled around the rim and out, and McGill-Toolen rushed the rebound up the floor with just a few seconds remaining and had a layup opportunity at the buzzer fall, but the officials correctly ruled that the shot came after time had expired.

“I really thought it was going to go in,” Holt said of her shot. “When you hit the square on the backboard, it’s supposed to go in. But we stayed calm.”

Spain Park trailed 36-25 after three quarters before mounting its big rally. Barrett Herring cut the deficit to nine with her layup, and Holt scored four straight points to make it 38-33. Sarah Ashlee Barker then split a pair of free throws before Duke banked in a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game.

After the teams exchanged a handful of baskets in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Holt buried a pair of free throws to tie the contest with 1:29 remaining in regulation.

Holt finished the game 10 of 14 from the charity stripe, as she made a conscious effort to drive to the basket after realizing her shot was not falling.

“I started out [1-of-7] in the first half, so I drove the ball more and I was ready to get fouled and go to the free throw line,” she said.

McGill-Toolen opened up a 15-10 lead after a quarter of play before the pace slowed dramatically in the second. The Lady Jags outscored McGill 7-4 and trailed by a pair at the break.

Asked how the team has been able to overcome such large deficits in the playoffs, Barker – who had a huge impact on the game with nine points, nine boards, six steals and three blocks – summed it up succinctly.

“We didn’t want to lose tonight,” she said. “We wanted to make it to the championship game.”

With the win, Spain Park set up a crosstown clash for the 7A final, as the Lady Jags will take on Hoover on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Spain Park will be making its first state championship game appearance, while head coach Mike Chase is also looking for his first title, after previously making it to the Final Four twice at Clay-Chalkville.

“It’s way more of a big deal,” Holt said of the opportunity to play Hoover, who beat the Lady Jags 66-40 on Feb. 3. “It’s a huge opportunity for us.”