ELMA — It was the right call to the right player with the game in the balance. The only thing that went wrong in Elma’s last-second chance to beat Centralia was the ball hit the rim too hard to fall in.
Rallying from an early fourth-quarter nine-point deficit, the Eagles saw the Tigers hit a game-grabbing 3-pointer before their last-chance shot missed in a 51-50 non-league loss on Tuesday night.
Elma’s Molly Johnston led all scorers with 16 points and 10 rebounds and teammate Peyton Elliott added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Centralia’s Chelsea Petrino and Ellie Corwin each scored 13.
“This is the best game they’ve played (this season) and they’re starting to come back together and work together,” Elma head coach Lisa Johnson said. “The first half was very good. I saw a lot of good things out there, good ball movement, good shots that we haven’t seen in the previous games.”
Elma trailed by as many as nine in the fourth and trailed by seven, 46-39, with 3:11 remaining when Johnson called a 30-second timeout. From there, the rally began.
A Brooke Sutherby inside basket came out of the timeout, then Elliott hit a mid-range jumper with just over 2 minutes left to cut the deficit to 46-43. Centralia went to the free-throw line in three straight series and hit just 2 of 6 at 48-43.
With 1:15 left, Tawni Heller drained a 3-point basket from the left wing at 48-46, then the Eagles forced a turnover seconds later. On the run, Elliott hit a banked jumper to tie the game with 1 minute left.
Elliott would hit a driving layup for a 50-48 lead with 28 seconds left after Centralia missed an inside shot at the other end of the floor. However, the Tigers had one more basket left.
Centralia went inside-out on Elma and found Petrino wide open on the right wing and the junior drained a 3-point shot for a 51-50 lead with 13 seconds left. The Eagles called timeout with 8 seconds left at midcourt to draw up one more play.
A scrum on the inbounds pass went back to Elma on a held ball with 3.3 seconds left. From there, Elliott found herself open on the inbounds play and her free-throw line jumper hit the rim and bounced out. Time expired as both teams scrambled for the rebound.
“We had a good look; I’d call that play for Elliott any where, any time,” Johnson said. “It was just right there. (In the first half, Molly) really make her moves and she’s doing what we need to do down low. We were just one point short.”
Elma didn’t start slow in this contest with Centralia. Buoyed by Johnston’s work in the paint, the Eagles flew out to a 15-10 first-quarter lead and led by as many as 11 early in the second on a six-point surge by Johnston, 21-10. Elma’s inside game and backdoor passes to wide-open players keyed the offense early on.
Elliott’s jumper with 3:11 left at 28-19 was Elma’s final field goal of the first half. A series of offensive rebounds by Centralia, as well as Elma turnovers, allowed the visitors to erase the deficit and take a 30-29 halftime lead — an 11-1 first-half ending run.
Both teams were slow on offense in the third, but the Tigers creeped out to a 39-32 lead after three quarters.
On Thursday, Elma will begin the three-day Seaside Invitational. The Eagles will take on the Cowboys of Crook County (Ore.) in the opening round.
Centralia 10 20 9 12 — 51 Elma 15 14 3 18 — 50
Centralia (51) — Poore 2, Petrino 13, Jensen 2, Wilkerson 12, Porter, Kaut 9, Corwin 13. FG — 20-43. FT — 8-15.
Elma (50) — Sackrider, Bieker 4, Elliott 14, Sutherby 8, Olson, Neary 1, Johnson, Mikel 2, Heller 5, Johnston 16. FG — 18-48. FT — 13-20.
JV — Elma 40, Centralia 25.
