Landrum’s Rachel Cooper stood at the free throw line. The clock had 29.2 seconds left on it. The Lady Cardinals were down to St. Joseph’s 46-45.
“It was intense,” Cooper said. “I missed some earlier and I didn’t want it to happen again. I didn’t want to let my team down.”
She didn’t.
The junior hit nothing but net on both free throws to give Landrum the lead over the Lady Knights. From there the Lady Cardinals didn’t look back en route to a 49-46 victory.
On St. Joseph’s next possession, Landrum point guard Macy Atkins came away with a steal and hit two free throws to ice the game with 19 seconds left.
Landrum had stayed right with St. Joseph’s – the first place team in Region II-1A – the entire game. It was just a matter of time before Landrum would find a little magic. The magic started with 1:05 left on the clock in the fourth quarter.
Lauren Pitts was fouled on a three-point attempt and hit on 2-of-3 free throws. The third one missed, but senior Skylar Henderson was there for the rebound and layup. Landrum was down by one point at 46-45. This time Landrum would get over the hump.
On the opposite end of the court Cara Mohr missed two free throws. Henderson grabbed another rebound and threw it down to Cooper. It was then that Cooper put the Cardinals up.
“That was huge,” head coach Deon Brice said of Henderson’s rebound and layup to bring the Cardinals within one point.
The bigger ramifications of the upset victory are the playoff implications. Landrum maintained pace with Blacksburg in the region race. The Cardinals are tied for second place in the region race with Blacksburg. St. Joseph’s and Blacksburg play Feb. 7. A win by St. Joseph’s against Blacksburg locks in a home playoff game for Landrum. A win by Blacksburg makes it a three-way tie for first place in the region.
“(This win) keeps us in the hunt for (the region),” Brice side.