‘It was in.’ Bryan Station girls basketball tops Madison Southern on 3-pointer at buzzer.
Bryan Station’s Elayna Ward knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing as time expired to give Bryan Station a 41-40 win over visiting Madison Southern on Wednesday night.
“We didn’t give up. We played hard till the end,” Ward said after she was swarmed to the floor by her teammates in celebration following her game-winner on an inbounds play that began with just two seconds left.
Bryan Station and Madison Southern exchanged the lead on brief runs all game and it looked as if the Eagles might pull out the win after Laci Sandlin’s fast-break layup put Madison Southern up 39-38 with under 1:55 to play.
Bryan Station struggled to answer the rest of the way. The Defenders were forced to foul Ashlan Estepp to stay in it. Estepp hit one of two free throws with 24.7 seconds left for a 40-38 lead.
In a scramble on the floor, Madison Southern forced a jump ball with six seconds left, but Bryan Station retained possession. Akiyah Ward’s 3-point attempt from the left corner on the ensuing inbounds play missed and deflected out of bounds off an Eagles defender with two seconds to go.
Bryan Station coach Serena Sandusky called a timeout to set up the Defenders’ final attempt.
“Well, it initially was supposed to be AB (Albertine Cyuzuzo) for a tip-in, but she wasn’t open,” Ward said. “I rolled to the corner, and I was open.”
Ward took the inbounds pass from Chloe Do and launched. It felt good.
“It was in,” she said with a smile. All six of her points came from behind the 3-point line.
Cyuzuzo led Bryan Station with 15 points. Kailyn Gentry and Wade added eight points each.
The win improved Bryan Station to 9-5 on the season and kept them undefeated at 5-0 in 11th Region play. The Defenders next face Lafayette on Friday.
Sandlin led the Eagles with 21 points. Madison Southern (7-6) played without standout sophomore Hadley French, who was resting a reported sprained ankle.
