Lady Jackets rally from 15 down, force overtime at the buzzer and win with their only lead to make Final Four for the first time
By Al Muskewitz
JACKSONVILLE — Melissa Bennett stood up on the end of the bench after another early Oxford turnover and slowly shook her head. It looked like it was going to be a long day.
By the end of the game she was fighting back tears of joy. It was that kind of day.
Oxford’s girls fought back from a difficult start and earned its first ever trip to the girls Final Four with a 53-52 win over Chelsea in overtime in the Class 6A Northeast Regional final at Jacksonville State.
The Lady Jackets (26-4) will play the winner of Tuesday’s Pelham-Helena Southeast Regional final in the 6A semifinals Wednesday at 9 a.m. in Birmingham.
“We made a little sign and it’s in the locker room,” Bennett said, closely guarding the sign’s message. “We wanted to get to Birmingham. We’ve been talking about it since we started workouts last April. Talked about it all summer. Used it as a motivator. But to actually come on the floor, especially the way that first half started, and actually make that dream a reality, it’s pretty awesome.
“I don’t know that we could have dug a much deeper hole there to start, but we said in the locker room how many times have we done that this season. I guess we can call ourselves ‘The Heart Attack Kids,’ but we knew we’ve done this before against some really good teams, teams that are still playing right now, so we knew we weren’t out of it.
“Super proud of our girls. They really turned it up on defense and kept battling.”
The Lady Jackets earned this one. They came back from a 15-point halftime deficit, got a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Leah Taylor to send it into overtime, and got a clutch three-point play from sophomore MVP Xai Whitfield with 21.7 seconds left to put them ahead.
But that’s not all. Lauren Ellard hit a free throw with 2.9 seconds left to make it a two-point game and then they had to hold their breath. Chelsea’s Sydney Schwallie was fouled crossing the mid-line with three-tenths of a second left and missed the first of two potential game-tying free throws to guarantee Oxford’s victory.
“I’m just really thankful she missed the first one,” Bennett said, refraining to comment on any other aspect of the foul.
Chelsea (27-6) was 12-of-23 from the free throw line in the game. It was 3-for-7 in the final 2:41 of regulation and 5-for-11 in the final seven minutes of play.
“That and the third quarter with troubles with turnover was the big difference in this game,” Lady Hornets coach Jason Harlow said. “We put a lot of emphasis on (free throws). It’s not been a tremendous issue throughout the course of the year.
“We play a style at Chelsea, because we’re not going to be the most athletic team or the quickest team night in and night out, we have to play really smart basketball. We have to take care of the ball and if you’re going to do that you have to be able to step up there and knock out free throws late in the game and we missed some free throws, which was a bit uncharacteristic for us down the stretch, but ultimately there’s other elements to the game and we’ve got to do a better job defensively and take care of it better than what we did as well.”
Oxford led all of 21 seconds in the game — the 21.7 seconds after Whitfield’s and-one. The Lady Jackets used a 17-4 third quarter to get within two and then got it tied for the first time early in the fourth quarter.
Whitfield, who Bennett called one of the best players in the state when she turns it on, finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and seven steals (five in the second half and overtime). Taylor had 19 points, hit both of her 3-point attempts, and grabbed five rebounds.
Things didn’t start off well for Oxford. The Lady Jackets turned it over on their first five possessions and didn’t score for the first six minutes of the game. They did bounce back in the second to get within three, but the Lady Hornets stretched it back out and led by 15 at the half.
Oxford found something during the break. The Lady Jackets held Chelsea to 2-of-10 shooting in the third quarter and turned it over seven times while closing the gap to two.
“First half I thought they really imposed their will on us,” Bennett said. “Second half I thought we really played a lot more together … and that’s how we were able to close the gap.”
They tied it on LaMya McGrue’s put-back early in the fourth quarter, but never could get the lead. Whitfield missed a game-tying 3 with 7.3 seconds left, but Chelsea’s Nia Cummings missed the front end of a one-and-one with 5.7 seconds left to set up Taylor’s clutch 3 from the right elbow.
“I shoot a lot of 3s,” Taylor said. “I knew I had to shoot it. I focused. It really wasn’t any pressure.”
Chelsea twice led by four in the overtime, the last time with 44 seconds left. Whitfield hit a jumper in the paint to make it 51-49 with 30 seconds left, then made a steal, drove the floor and pulled up for another jumper with 21.7 left. She was fouled on the shot and hit the free throw to give the Lady Jackets their first lead of the game.
“I was just trying to score,” Whitfield said. “I was just hoping it went in.”
Chelsea put the Lady Jackets out last year in the regional semifinals.
CLASS 6A NORTHEAST REGIONAL
Girls championship
Oxford 53, Chelsea 52 (OT)
OXFORD (26-4) – Justice Woods 2-9 0-0 4, Xai Whitfield 6-12 9-10 21, Lauren Ellard 1-7 2-4 4, LaMya McGrue 2-5 0-1 5, Kaleah Taylor 7-12 3-4 19, JaMea Gaston 0-1 0-0 0, Keziah Mickler 0-1 0-0 0, Shaniya Calloway 0-0 0-0 0, Mikiya Wilson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-47 14-19 53.
CHELSEA (27-6) – Mary Cartee 5-11 5-6 16, Ashley Washington 1-5 2-3 5, Nia Cummings 1-2 0-1 2, Sydney Schwallie 3-7 2-4 8, Lexi Redd 3-7 3-9 9, Madison Moore 0-0 0-0 0, Sadie Schwallie 0-0 0-0 0, Haley Trotter 6-11 0-0 12. Totals 19-43 12-23 52.
Oxford 3 12 17 13 8 – 53
Chelsea 14 16 4 11 7 – 52
3-point goals: Oxford 3-14 (Woods 0-1, Whitfield 0-3, Ellard 0-5, McGrue 1-1, Taylor 2-2, Gaston 0-1, Mickler 0-1); Chelsea 2-8 (Cartee 1-3, Washington 1-4, Trotter 0-1). Rebounds: Oxford 23 (Whitfield 9, Taylor 5); Chelsea 40 (Trotter 13, Cartee 9). Fouled out: Cummings. Total fouls: Oxford 19, Chelsea 18. Officials: Johnson, Williams, Trousdale. [*** read more]
