LARNED — It looked as though the size advantage that the Hoisington High School girls’ basketball team brought to the Larned Keady Basketball Classic was going to be a non-factor in the matchup with Macksville Thursday night.
The Mustangs jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes, however, Hoisington was able to turn it around.
But only for most of the game.
It was the Lady Cardinals who had the upper hand in the fourth quarter, but a last-minute flurry of 3s from the Mustangs cut into the lead and Macksville came from behind for a 56-50 win.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Lady Redbirds were up 36-35. They immediately went to work in widening their lead. Eight unanswered points gave Hoisington its biggest lead of the game at 44-35 with less than two minutes left.
Then came the Mustangs’ Yasnaya Susoeff, who finished with 14 points including four 3-pointers. She dropped in the first trey for Macksville, and Keira Parr hit another only 16 seconds later.
Jordin Greer, who drained four free throws in the fourth quarter, went to the foul line for Hoisington to spread the lead to 46-41 with 35 seconds left.
But the Mustangs found Susoeff open for another 3, slicing the margin to 46-44.
With the crowd coming to life, Macksville got a steal on the inbound pass, but couldn’t convert on a shot.
Hoisington’s Mallory Flagor was fouled after she came down with the rebound. Flagor, who had hit 4 of 5 from the line up until that point, missed both free throws, keeping the Mustangs hopes alive.
With only 19 seconds left, the Mustangs brought the ball back down the court. With the time rolling down, Susoeff let loose a game-tying 3-point attempt that was off the mark. But Megan Wood, who led the Mustangs with a game-high 20 points, snagged the rebound and put in a shot at the buzzer to tie the game at 46, sending the game into overtime.
In the four-minute overtime period, Macksville outscored Hoisington 10-4 to put the game away.