Megan Jordan had to be told that she was going to the free-throw line with 10.6 seconds left and the Gold Ball on the line.
“I didn’t even know the score when I first got fouled,” Jordan said. “Everyone was so excited, and talking to me, and I was like, ‘What is going on?’”
Jordan was fouled after grabbing a defensive rebound with the score tied in the Class B girls’ basketball state championship game Tuesday night at the Portland Expo. She made the first of two free throws, and that was enough for Ellsworth to overcome Spruce Mountain’s furious fourth-quarter rally and claim the school’s first girls’ basketball title with a 57-56 victory.
“I go to the line, and I say, ‘Oh, I just got to make them,’” Jordan said. “I knew it was going in. That was the first one. The second one, I was like, ‘meh.’”
Ellsworth dominated the first three quarters and had a 48-33 lead going into the final quarter. Spruce Mountain, though, quickly took chunks out of the deficit and grabbed its first lead at 53-52.
“That’s one of the greatest things about them, you can never count them out,” Phoenix Coach Zach Keene said of his players.
The Phoenix were ahead 56-54 when Ellsworth’s Addison Atherton put back a missed free throw to tie the game. After the Eagles made a stop on defense, Jordan broke the tie.
The Phoenix had one more chance for a winning basket but couldn’t get a shot off.
Abby Radel led Ellsworth with 17 points, including 11 in the first quarter.
Olivia Mastine scored 20 points for Spruce Mountain, while Jaydn Pingree finished with 16 and Aubrey Kachnovich added 10. Mastine and Pingree each scored nine points in the fourth quarter, and Mastine had 17 in the second half.
Morgan Clifford, Ellsworth’s only senior, hit a 3-pointer to extend the Eagles’ lead to 51-33 early in the fourth.
Spruce Mountain then went on a quick 11-0 run. Radel made one of two free throws to end Ellsworth’s drought, but that didn’t slow the Phoenix.
Mastine drained a 3-pointer, Pingree made two free throws and a layup, and Mastine scored again to give Spruce Mountain its first lead of the game, 53-52.
Radel answered with her first field goal of the second half. Pingree then put Spruce back in front with a pair of free throws and later added another to give the Phoenix a 56-54 lead with 49 seconds remaining.
Ellsworth’s pressure on both ends of the floor overwhelmed the Phoenix throughout the first half.
When on defense, Ellsworth swarmed every Spruce Mountain ball-handler, causing turnovers or forced shots and bad passes.
On offense, Radel sped Ellsworth up the floor and was constantly attacking the hoop, resulting in several layup opportunities. She scored 11 points in the first quarter and 14 in the first half.
The Phoenix, meanwhile, earned several second-chance opportunities but didn’t convert enough to keep up with the Eagles, who took a 32-15 lead into halftime.
Grace Jaffray, who finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, scored the first four points of the second half to extend Ellsworth’s lead to 21 points.
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