Kiona-Benton stuns Royal girls at buzzer

ROYAL CITY — The Royal Lady Knights lost another heartbreaking South Central Athletic Conference girls basketball contest Thursday night when Kiona-Benton senior Sara Vannoy hit a running layup at the buzzer to push the Bears to the 59-57 victory.

The Lady Knights struggled from the field in the first half and Kiona-Benton took a 28-24 lead into the half.

Royal came out of the break a little sluggish and Kiona-Benton was able to take advantage, pushing a four-point 28-24 lead into a 42-27 lead after just three minutes in the third quarter.

While the Bears ran out to a big lead early in the second half, the Lady Knights would recover thanks to senior Tawnee Gonzales and her team-leading 21 points. All of Gonzales’ points Thursday night came in the second half.

Royal head coach Brock Anderson said Gonzales kept the Lady Knights in the game Thursday night.

“Tawnee put us on her back,” he said. “Everyone kind of followed along.”

Although Gonzales helped the Lady Knights battle back, the Bears still took a 47-37 lead into the fourth quarter.

Despite trailing by 10 points at the end of the third quarter, Anderson addressed his team.

“I remember saying we don’t need to go (on a) 10-0 (run) right away,” he said.

Anderson’s Lady Knights didn’t listen.

The Lady Knights exploded on the scoreboard to start the fourth quarter. Royal opened up the final period with an 8-0 run in the first 1:40 to cut the deficit to just two points at 47-45.

Royal continued to storm back, eventually pulling even with Kiona-Benton at 49-49 with 5:30 left to play.

After the Lady Knights tied the game, the Bears went on a 6-1 run to take a 55-50 lead late in the fourth quarter.

Just like they had done at the start of the fourth quarter, the Lady Knights rallied. Royal pulled within a possession of Kiona-Benton at 56-54 with 1:36 left in regulation.

After the Royal defense forced a Kiona-Benton turnover, the Lady Knights pushed the ball down the length of the court.

With just 58 seconds left, Royal junior Leslie Brown went to the free-throw line for the Lady Knights. Brown hit both of her free-throw attempts to help Royal pull even with Kiona-Benton. This time at 56-56 with less than a minute remaining.

The Bears took possession after Brown’s successful trip to the charity stripe and Kiona-Benton pushed the ball down the court.

Kiona-Benton worked through their offense before a tenacious Royal defense forced a turnover with 29 seconds left in the contest.

With the shot clock dead, Royal attacked the basket. Brown’s attempt to give Royal the lead missed and Vannoy took the ball to the basket before being fouled by Gonzales, her fifth personal foul.

The Royal foul sent Vannoy to the line with 13 seconds left in the game. Vanoy missed her first attempt before sinking the second to give the Bears a 57-56 lead.

The Lady Knights inbounded the ball and pushed the ball across half court. With the game on the line, Royal attacked the basket. The Lady Knights missed the layup attempt before junior Katrina Werlinger grabbed the loose ball.

Werlinger attempted to put up the shot with just 8 seconds remaining before a Kiona-Benton foul would send her to the line. Werlinger made the first one to tie the game at 57-57. Her second attempt bounced off the rim and Vannoy grabbed the board and dribbled the ball up the court.

With less than 3 seconds left and the score tied, Vannoy drove the ball into the lane and put up a running layup with 1 second on the clock.

The ball floated through the air and fell through the twine as the buzzer sounded to give the Bears the 59-57 victory.

Anderson said he couldn’t believe how the game ended.

“That is the second time in three nights that we got beat at the buzzer,” he said. “It was a heck of a gutsy comeback. It’s a heartbreaker. It’s hard to believe that we aren’t playing next week.”