William Fleming (Roanoke, VA) led by as many as 17 points in the second half before having to hold off Scott County (Georgetown, KY) for a 73-70 victory. With the win, the Colonels (5-2) advance to the consolation bracket’s championship game.
Trailing 50-33 with 10:43 remaining in the game, Scott County (3-4) went on a 20-4 run to pull to within one point at 54-53 on Iman Guy’s layup with 6:06 to play. Fleming stopped the run with a 6-0 spurt of its own and maintained the seven-point advantage at 66-59 with 3:34 on the clock.
Another run by the Cardinals would again close the gap to just one point at 69-68 on Bailey Hawkins’ jumper with 1:51 to play. Desiree Keeling connected on a jumper and then hit one-of-two free throws to give Fleming a 72-68 lead with just 39 seconds to play. Scott County’s Audrian Christopher cut the deficit to 72-70 just nine seconds later on a driving layup. Following a pair of missed free throws by the Colonels and a turnover by Scott County, Antavia Stevens connected on one-of-two from the charity stripe to open a three-point cushion but also leave the door open with eight seconds on the clock. Scott County’s Danielle DeFoor’s 3-pointer hit the front of the rim to end the game.
Keeling paced William Fleming with a game-high22 points and 17 rebounds. Hawkins and Christopher led Scott County with 17 points each. Tereka Guyn posted a double-double for the cardinals with 16 points and 16 rebounds.
