VANLUE — Bucyrus’ Karlee Shull hit her fifth 3-point shot of the night with 15 seconds left to tie the game with Vanlue at 46-46.
With overtime seemingly inevitable, the Lady Red were shocked by what unfolded next.
The Wildcats took the ball the length of the court, reversed it to the left wing and Madison Brooks calmly sank a 12-footer with 3.5 seconds on the clock.
It stood up and Vanlue came away with a stunning 48-46 non-league victory.
“That was a big shot,” Vanlue coach Robert Brooks understated. “I’m happy for her and I’m happy for our team.”
It was fitting that the team that scored last won. Neither could expand on leads. Bucyrus led by as many as six, at 19-13, on a 3 by Shull at the six-minute mark of the second quarter.
Vanlue (6-10) nearly matched that in the third, leading by five — 30-25 — on a basket by Candace Saltzman.
While most statistical categories were close, one was glaringly not — rebounding. The Wildcats held a 42-31 advantage on the glass including an 11-5 edge on the offensive end.
“We didn’t box out very well,” Bucyrus coach Brian Seybert said. “We allowed too many offensive rebounds. We weren’t trying to be physical enough in the first half, and even in the third quarter, to move them out of the paint. They got some easy buckets.”
Even though Bucyrus (1-15) connected on eight 3s to none for the Wildcats, it was not quite enough to make up the differential in the paint.
“We had some steals in the first half in the paint,” Brooks said. “I thought we were active with our hands and arms.”
The Lady Red had little success getting the ball inside or scoring in transition. They had to rely on perimeter shots allowing the Wildcats to dominate the glass.
Ironically, Bucyrus led at every quarter break except the one that counted — the fourth. The Lady Red led 14-13 after one on a pair of 3s by Shull. They tacked on two more at halftime, largely on the strength of 3s by Aubrie Kimmel, Shull, and Malina Rowland, to lead 25-22.
Bucyrus overcame Vanlue’s five-point lead in the third quarter to retain a narrow 37-35 advantage by period’s end.
“Other than (the rebounds), we made eight 3s,” Seybert said. “We got the shots we wanted to get. We pushed the pace a little here and there.”
In the pivotal fourth quarter, the score was tied four times. Olivia Secord and Saltzman combined for 11 of the Wildcats’ 13 points — Secord with six and Saltzman with five.
Vanlue took a 46-43 lead with 26 seconds left on a free throw by Saltzman. That set the stage for Shull’s dramatic 3 from the right corner 11 seconds later.
“Some of the shots from both sides probably eight out of 10 times don’t go in,” Brooks said. “But tonight, they went in.”
Saltzman led the Wildcats with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Secord and Madison Brooks added 11 points each.
Shull led the Lady Red with a game-high 15 points and Rowland finished with 10. Marissa Middleton grabbed six rebounds.
“Credit them. They made baskets, they got clutch shots when they needed them,” Seybert said. “We just came up two points short.
“The weather, not practicing yesterday, that may have played a part in it,” he added. “We did enough to try to give us a chance to win at the end.”
“It was a good girls’ high school basketball game,” Brooks said. “You almost hate to see anybody lose in that game. But tonight was our night, that’s all I can say.”
Brooks also thought the win gave his team some impetus going down the stretch after losing seven of their last eight games.
“We needed that win,” Brooks said. “We’ve kind of been in a rut here. Hopefully, this will go a long way toward a tournament run. We’ve got six wins. I’ve got a senior on the team that said she’s never won six games.”
“Brooks hit that mid-range jumper,” Seybert said. “We didn’t rotate to it fast enough. Congrats to them. We’ll just move on and get ready for Wynford on Saturday.”
Box score
Bucyrus 14 11 12 9 — 46
Vanlue 13 9 13 13 — 48
Bucyrus (1-15): Shots 17-52; 3-pt. shots 8-27 (Karlee Shull 5, Malina Rowland 2); Free throws 4-7; Rebounds 31 (Marissa Middleton 6); Turnovers 14. Scoring: Aubrie Kimmel 1 0 3, Karlee Shull 5 0 15, Reese Garvin 2 1 5, Marissa Middleton 2 0 4, Lilyan Butchko 2 1 5, Malina Rowland 4 0 10, Savannah Clark 1 2 4.
Vanlue (6-10): Shots 22-55; 3-pt. shots 0-8; Free throws 4-10; Rebounds 42 (Candace Saltzman 10); Turnovers 14. Scoring: Adrienne Phillips 3 0 6, Olivia Secord 5 1 11, Alison Brooks 2 1 5, Candace Saltzman 6 1 13, Madison Brooks 5 1 11, Abigail Kloepfer 1 0 2.