OAKLAND — Mountain Ridge fought and clawed to force a tie at 42 with 5:35 remaining: Southern’s defense didn’t give up a point the rest of the way.
With both teams sensing possible elimination, the next three minutes featured a bevy of missed shots, turnovers and errant free throws. A pair of Kelsey Ward foul shots finally ended the Rams’ drought to break the tie with 2:48 on the clock, and they never looked back.
Southern ended the game on an 11-0 run, holding the Miners without a point over the final five-plus minutes to avoid what would’ve been an upset for the ages.
Behind a game-high 22 points from Jayden Weaver, top-seeded Southern outlasted fourth-seeded Mountain Ridge, 53-42, in the Class 1A West Region I semifinals Monday at Ram Arena.
“Mountain Ridge came out with a good game plan. They smacked us in the mouth with their game plan,” Southern head coach Landon Todd said. “It took us three-and-a-half quarters to kind of recover and find our footing.
“The girls, their eyes were opened: ‘We are two minutes away from being into spring sports right now.’ … It was close.”
Southern (21-2), the defending Class 1A runner-up, was widely considered a 20-point favorite after defeating Mountain Ridge (14-9) 62-33 and 73-50 during the regular season.
But games aren’t played on paper, and the Miners used a 13-2 flurry to lead 17-9 after the first quarter. Southern forged ahead with a 10-0 burst in the second period, but Mountain Ridge held strong, leading 28-26 at halftime.
Southern’s largest lead was five points until the decisive run. The Rams were up 38-35 entering the fourth.
Mountain Ridge’s defense stymied Southern throughout, holding the area’s best offense down by utilizing a 2-2-1 three-quarter-court press that fell into a 3-2 zone.
The safe pressure was intended to take time off the shot clock, and it worked to perfection, giving Southern less time to crack a 3-2 zone defense that Mountain Ridge played for the first time all season.
“Our girls came ready to play. We couldn’t be more proud of them,” Mountain Ridge head coach Donny Carter said. “Southern beat us by 20 points both times this season, and realistically, this was a three-point game until a minute left.”
After Ward’s go-ahead free throws and a stop, Emelee Parks made it a two-possession game with a pair of makes at the charity stripe.
Mountain Ridge turned over an inbounds pass on the next possession, and Abi Teets got a friendly role on a deep 2-pointer to all but ice the game.
Southern was cold from deep with the exception of Weaver, who buried three triples as part of her game-high scoring total.
“Coming down the stretch last year, she had multiple games like this,” Todd said of Weaver. “Tonights a credit to how much time she’s spent in the gym recently.”
Carly Wilt and Joycelyn Ward added eight points each for the Rams, and Kelsey Ward finished with seven.
Makayla Ziler was the catalyst of the Miners’ fast start, hitting three buckets in the first period as part of her team-high 15 points. Kealana Pua’auli joined Ziler in double figures with 12 points.
Layla Miller scored five in the opening quarter off the bench, and she buried a 3-pointer with 6:45 remaining to tie the game at 40.
While Mountain Ridge’s season had its ebbs and flows, the Miners peaked at the right time and narrowly missed pulling off a stunner.
“We’ve known all along that they were capable of this, they just needed to believe,” Carter said. “We’ve seen it the past few weeks in practice. Them coming more together as a team. That’s been really fun to watch.”
Southern advances to the region finals where it’ll meet second-seeded Allegany (21-3) on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Allegany was a 51-49 winner over Northern in the other half of the bracket Monday.
The Rams swept Alco during the season, 59-42 and 55-36. If they didn’t know before Monday, they know now that every game could be their last.
“You know they’re going to come in ready for the game on Wednesday,” Todd said. “I’d like to think we’re going to come in just as prepared as they are. Just like Mountain Ridge, they’re probably going to have something cooked up for us, and we’ve got to be on our toes and ready for it.”