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“This game means something, but in the grand scheme of things …” Holderman said following his team’s 54-53 loss to Versailles in one of the area’s top non-conference matchups this season. “We battled Versailles last year and it came down to the wire again. We made the shot last year. This year we didn’t quite do it. It is what it is. That’s why you play this crazy game.”
And the final 10 seconds were just that.
Versailles senior Danielle Winner hit the second of two free throws to give the Tigers (13-1) a 54-53 lead with 33 seconds left. Tipp (10-1) called time out with 27 seconds left to set up its final play.
The Red Devils worked the clock down to 7 seconds when senior Maddie Frederick (19 points) led a three-pointer fly from the corner. It bounced off the back of the rim. A scramble for the loose ball ensued. Tipp senior Allison Mader (12 points) picked up the loose ball. As she brought the ball to her waist for a last-gasp attempt, Versailles senior Kami McEldowney got a hand on the ball to knock it away.
“These girls were so excited to play this game,” Versailles coach Jacki Stonebraker said. “It’s a fun game to have on our schedule right in the middle of the season to see where you’re at. We play that game 10 times and who knows who wins.”
Tipp had won the last three games in the series, including last season’s 46-44 victory.
“It’s always been a really close game, especially in junior high where those were intense games,” McEldowney said. “Just playing them my senior year and beating them this final time it’s awesome.”
Frederick, an Iowa State University recruit who scored a game-high 19 points, hit a three-pointer to put the Red Devils up 51-43 with 3:54 left in the fourth quarter. Versailles senior Ellen Peters hit a jumper with 2:30 left and sophomore Caitlin McEldowney’s steal and jumper gave the Tigers a 53-51 lead.
Tipp junior Brooke Aselage answered off an offensive rebound for the game’s seventh and final tie, making it 53-53, with 1:03 remaining.
Winner then hit her game-winning free throw.
“It’s a boost of confidence to get a quality win like this, absolutely,” Versailles coach Stonebraker said. “It shows us what we aren’t doing well and what we are doing well. Over the course of the year we haven’t shown we could run some offensive sets in the half court. Our game has been to run, run, run. Today we had to run some offense sets and I think we were screening well, we were rolling well, our posts were getting open inside. Now we have to work on getting it in there.”
Versailles outrebounded Tipp 26-23 overall. The Tigers built a 36-29 halftime lead with a 15-7 rebounding edge in the first half.
Versailles senior Danielle Winner had 10 rebounds to go with her 12 points. Caitlin McEldowney also added 12 points.
Senior Cali Stewart scored 13 for Tipp to join Frederick and Mader in double figures.
“I thought the initial shot wasn’t a bad one,” said Holderman, who finished his Wright State University career in 1994 as the program’s career three-point leader. “Earlier in that possession we had an opportunity to get the ball in the short corner and I think a dive down the lane, that spot would have been wide open. We didn’t get the ball where we needed to. Credit Versailles. They’re a fantastic team.”
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