First Posted: 3/4/2012
With the Dallas girls basketball team trailing by 13 points in the second half and its leading scorer, Ashley Dunbar, not yet scoring, things did not look good for the Lady Mountaineers.
But, then Dunbar took over the game, matching her season best with 26 points in the final 17 minutes as the Dallas girls rallied for a 62-56 overtime victory over Holy Redeemer during the District 2 Class 3A quarterfinal.
Dallas (14-7) nearly threw away its chance at overtime with nine seconds remaining in regulation,
Redeemer’s Alexis Lewis made two free throws, giving the Royals a 50-48 lead. Dunbar took the inbounds pass and raced the length of the court, making a layup to tie the game.
The problem?
A timeout had been called by Dallas coach Kelly Johnson with 4.9 seconds on the clock. The score did not count.
Coming out of the huddle, the Mountaineers worked the ball to Dunbar who tried to penetrate along the baseline but was double teamed by the Royals and came up short. The defense over-pursued, however, leaving Dunbar an open 8-foot jumper as the buzzer sounded.
Averaging 12.2 points per game, Dunbar went scoreless for the first 18 minutes until making two free throw for Dallas’ first points of the third quarter. Those shots cut the Royals’ lead to 29-18 and were enough to ignite the Mountaineers.
Maggie Michael, filling in for an injured Sara Flaherty, made a basket and Englehart, who had 11 points and 11 rebounds, had a stickback.
