Abby Hester drilled a go-ahead three-pointer in the final seconds for Vina on Tuesday night, lifting the Lady Red Devils to a 56-55 win at area rival Belgreen.
Vina (19-5 overall, 4-2 in Class 1A, Area 13) trailed by four points with less than two minutes remaining when Hester, a senior point guard, had to leave the game after turning an ankle. She quickly returned to the floor and dropped in a runner to cut Belgreen’s lead to two.
Neither team scored again until Vina’s final possession, when Hester dribbled into the frontcourt and nailed a step-back three—her third of the night and 52nd of the season—to put the Lady Red Devils in front. The Lady Bulldogs (11-6, 3-2) then missed a desperation shot as time expired, and Vina escaped with a critical area win.
“This was big for us, because it pretty much guarantees that we’ll end up with either the two or the three seed [for the area tournament],” said head coach Richie Hester, whose team has area games remaining at Tharptown and at home against second-ranked Phillips. “We definitely wanted to stay out of the four-five game, so this was a big win. I can’t say enough about how proud I am of our girls. They played like I’ve been trying to get them to play—never say die, never quit, never give up.
“Belgreen kept coming at us. They never quit either. They kept coming at us, but we got the breaks at the end.”
Held without a field goal in the first quarter, Hester finished with a game-high 24 points. She went 7-for-8 from the foul line on her way to topping the 20-point mark for the 10th time this season. Sarah Johnson added 13 points for Vina, and Emma Humphres had 12 on four three-pointers.
The Lady Devils, who lost 81-60 at home to Belgreen in December, got 10 second-quarter points from Johnson and seven from Hester in Tuesday’s rematch, out-scoring the Lady Bulldogs 21-13 to take a 34-25 lead into the locker room. Belgreen countered with a big third quarter, out-scoring Vina 17-11 to get back within three at 45-42.
Katie Dempsey and Gabbie Moore combined to go 6-for-8 from the foul line and score 10 fourth-quarter points to help the Lady Bulldogs surge to a late lead, but Hester’s two clutch baskets at the end proved to be the difference.
“I can’t say enough for these girls,” Richie Hester said. “They have really come together. They’re playing good together. They wanted this one. Now we’ve gotta figure out a way to beat Belgreen two more times.”
Vina and Belgreen are set to square off in the semifinals of the county tournament next Friday night, and the two teams will likely meet again in the first round of the Area 13 tournament in February.
Hester handed out 10 assists to go along with her 24 points on Tuesday night. Johnson finished with a double-double, pulling down 12 rebounds, and Humphres grabbed eight boards. Sara Scott added four points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard Kaitlyn King, Vina’s second-leading scorer on the season at nearly 14 points per game, had two on Tuesday before fouling out in the third quarter. Rayleigh Guin added one point.
Vina made seven threes as a team and shot 11-for-18 from the foul line.
Moore went 4-for-4 from the line and finished with 11 points to lead Belgreen. Katie Dempsey scored all 10 of her points in the second half, going 6-for-8 from the foul line. Ansley Tate also finished with 10 points, and senior guard Jasmine Martin added nine. Gracie Dempsey scored eight points, knocking down two of the Lady Bulldogs’ four threes. Emma Dempsey scored three points, and Autumn Bragwell and Camie Terrell each added two.
Belgreen shot 17-for-24 from the line as a team.