With the top two defensive teams in the conference going at it late in the season, you expect a game like the one we saw in the Power Plant Monday night. This one took all forty minutes, but with 6.1 left on the clock and down one, Butler head coach Mike Helmer drew up a play for his star guard Skyla Knight who came up big making a fall away shot with just 2.1 seconds left in the game as the Grizzlies won in the final seconds 57-56 over Garden City.
"It was definitely a defensive battle tonight," said head coach Mike Helmer. "Neither team shot the ball overly well and didn't turn it over a ton we just held on and made big plays down the stretch when we needed them."
Big plays were made down the stretch as Tamara Nard made a free throw to get within one with :28 seconds remaining in the game. She missed the second, but an offensive rebound by Syncere Harrod and a foul would send Harrod to the line for two and a chance to take the lead. Harrod went on to make both giving Butler the 55-54 lead with :17 left on the clock. On the inbounds under the Broncbuster basket, Aerihna Afoa of Garden City made a layup with 6.1 left to regain the lead. A timeout by Butler allowed the Grizzlies to advance the ball down the court for the inbounds pass.
Head Coach Mike Helmer scripted up a play and it was executed to perfection as Skyla Knight got the pass inbounds, drove to the middle of the lane and pulled up for a fall away shot and sunk it. With no timeouts left, Garden City inbounded the ball and couldn't get a shot attempt up and the Grizzlies came away with the 57-56 victory.
Skyla Knight scored 15 points in the game, five of which came in the final minute as she hit a go ahead three-pointer at the one-minute mark and then her game winning shot to finish it. Paris Mullins was the only other Grizzly in double figures scoring 10 points with five rebounds. Syncere Harrod finished with seven points on the night, 3-5 from the free throw line but made the two that really counted with :17 seconds left on the clock. After averaging a double double over the last week, Tamara Nard was held to just seven points and three rebounds in her 14 minutes on the floor as foul trouble kept her sidelined.
Butler connected on just 2-18 from behind the arc but were 81% from the free throw line and had their least number of turnovers in a game with 12 on the night. Butler finished with 13 offensive rebounds allowing them to score 13 second chance points in the tight game.
There were 13 lead changes and four ties throughout the forty-minute contest. Butler led by as many as nine points in the third quarter and Garden City's largest lead was four points halfway through the first quarter.
NEXT UP: Butler (16-1, 15-1) will travel to Chanute on Wednesday, March 24 to face the three-point shooting Neosho Panthers (3-13, 4-14) who have lost nine of their last ten games. Butler is holding onto a three-game lead in the KJCCC East with just four games remaining in conference play. A win Wednesday and a Coffeyville loss could seal the deal on a third straight KJCCC East Championship for the Grizzlies.
