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Badger nips Mathews in close battle

Tribune Chronicle / Bob Ettinger Haylee Mott (right) of Badger and Paige Sponsler of Mathews fight for possession.

KINSMAN — Badger girls basketball coach Dusty Karr was certainly tempted to play the mad scientist as he drew up what would be the Braves’ final play with 11.8 seconds left in regulation against visiting Mathews on Monday night. He opted to keep it simple and Paige Kramar rewarded him with a bucket to give the Braves a 55-53 victory.

“That was one of our set plays,” Karr said. “I will say I was going to get cute and draw up something special, have the girls learn it and run it. But then I thought I didn’t need to be the smartest guy in the room. I just needed to get the ball in the hands of our players and let them make the play. They executed it perfectly, by the way. That was Option 1.”

Kramar took a pass at the wing and drove toward traffic at the elbow before putting the ball up and in.

“I was really nervous, actually,” Kramar said. “I just knew I had to take it to the rim. Whether I made it or not, I had to get to the line. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.

“It was very stressful. It was all up-and-down, but we came together as a team to get that win.”

Tribune Chronicle / Bob Ettinger Katarina Schubert of Mathews shoots over Rebecca Litz (12) and Emma Hunkus of Badger in the Braves’ victory on Monday night at Badger.

Frustrated might be an understatement for how the Mustangs and coach Joe Bornemiss felt following the loss. Mathews trailed, 16-7, eight minutes in and was behind, 22-11, early in the second period before getting within a point heading into the half. In the third, the Mustangs actually led, 30-26, until a 13-0 Badger run gave the Braves a 39-30 lead, before that gap was once again closed back to two to open the final period.

“There’s nothing to say in the locker room after a game like that,” Bornemiss said. “We’re saying the same stuff all the time. If they don’t understand how they played is how the game went, shame on them.

“We just can’t go out and give so many opportunities. If you want to move forward in tournament or league play, you have to put four quarters together. You can’t be 3-for-11 from the line and 0-for-6 down the stretch. It’s got nothing to do with playing hard. They play hard. Playing hard doesn’t get you wins. You’ve got to close it out and execute on the floor.”

Up and down might be oversimplifying it a bit. Badger (3-0, 2-0 in Northeastern Conference) and the Mustangs (1-2, 1-1) traded the lead seven times over the final 5:19 of the contest and were tied three more times. The Braves’ biggest lead of the period was 43-39 after Kramar tallied the first points of the final period with 6:48 to go.

Mathews took its first lead of the quarter, 47-45, with 4:50 to play, following a drive to the hole by Carlie Pratt and consecutive buckets from Emily Strama.

Emma Hunkus put the Braves back in front, 50-49, with a free throw and a layup with 2:50 remaining. Katarina Schubert took the lead back for Mathews 10 seconds later. Haylee Mott’s lone basket of the night proved big as she gave the Braves a 53-51 advantage with just more than two minutes left.

Morgan Williams calmly knocked down two free throws to knot it back up with 1:29 to go, but the Mustangs missed on their next four free-throw attempts in the final minute of play.

After Kramar’s heroics, Chloe Flowers, with the help of Hunkus, tipped the inbounds pass away from the Mustangs following a Mathews timeout and time expired.

“We did not want to let them inbound the ball gong toward their basket,” Karr said. “We wanted to make sure they were back the other way.

“We want to start rewarding the hustle plays this year. I’ve been tracking floor touches. It’s very important (Chloe and Emma) have embraced that role. They’re the defensive specialists of the team. They did a great job there.”

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