Sat Feb 11 2012
Like sand through cupped hands, victory once again slipped away from Frankfort High’s girls basketball team in a decidedly cruel manner.
The Lady Panthers overcame a six-point fourth quarter deficit and took the lead 47-46 with a minute to play on a Shauntae Brown layup, but couldn’t close the door on Boyle County Monday night at F.D. Wilkinson Arena.
The Lady Rebels tied and won the game where the Lady Panthers struggled all night: the free throw line. Emily Wesley made the score 47-47 with 45 seconds to play with a freebie and Michaela Megilligan provided the winning margin 49-47 from the line with 18 seconds left.
Frankfort (9-15) had two good looks at the basket in the final minute, but Sheree Brown’s jumper in the lane bounced out as did Shanae Brown’s contested layup attempt in the final seconds.
FHS coach Jody Hellard said one need not look any further than the free throw line to determine why the Lady Panthers dropped their second straight contest by four points or less.
“The bottom line is we shot 5-of-17 from the free throw line,” Hellard said. “There’s no excuse for that. We’ve been shooting over 50 percent this season. It doesn’t do us any good to bust our humps on defense if we’re not going to make free throws.”
FHS was led in scoring by Shanae Brown with 14, Shauntae Brown with 13 and Sheree Brown with 10. The trio went 0-for-6 from the line, however, including a crucial miss on a one-and-one in the final minute.
The Lady Panthers hit just one of their first 12 free throw attempts before making four of their last five. Boyle County (12-11) shot 11-of-18 from the charity stripe.
Despite struggling with its shot, Frankfort never trailed by more than six points in the game. The Lady Panthers used ball pressure to force the Lady Rebels into 32 turnovers and picked up 13 points directly off turnovers.
The press proved most effective in the second quarter, which began with a basket by Shauntae Brown off a Shanae Brown steal to give FHS a 14-13 edge. The Lady Panthers converted three more steals into baskets in the quarter and made two 3-pointers late in the half when Boyle County switched to a zone defense.
Frankfort led just 25-23 at halftime, however, after giving up several easy baskets to Boyle County’s Michelle Howell in the halfcourt game.
“We didn’t hedge on screens, we didn’t block out and we didn’t switch well,” Hellard said.
In the third quarter, the Lady Rebels used a 9-1 run to take a 34-28 lead four minutes into the second half. Boyle County maintained that advantage into the fourth until Abby Green came up with a rebound and two free throws and Shanae Brown broke through for a steal and an assist on a Shauntae Brown layup to make the score 42-40.
FHS took the lead 45-44 on a Shanae Brown 3-pointer with four minutes to play. The Lady Panthers came up with a steal and held the ball for nearly two minutes in an attempt to get Boyle County out of their zone before turning it over out of bounds.
“We weren’t trying to stall,” Hellard said. “We just wanted to settle down and attack the basket.”
Shortening the game backfired though when the ball wouldn’t drop for the blue and orange in the final minute.
“This was one where we just didn’t hit enough shots from the field,” Hellard said.
FRANKFORT (47) – Mattie Hutcherson 3, Sheree Brown 10, Shauntae Brown 13, Shanae Brown 14, Abby Green 4, Kimber Woodrum 2, Nakela Cleveland 1.
BOYLE CO. (49) – Michelle Howell 9, Michaela Megilligan 2, Emily Wesley 17, Kyla McGirr 3, Megan Sutton 4, Emily Hall 4, Kelly Horn 4, Lindsey Hall 6.
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