East Hamilton's Lady Hurricane head coach Erick Baird frantically ran to a referee and signaled a timeout. The referee blew his whistle abruptly stopping play and granted coach Baird his wish. The stressed-out Baird let out a sigh of relief and looked up at the referee and smiled, as the referee mirrored back the same gesture. Coach Baird and his Lady Canes were going to have one last shot at winning their season opening contest against Notre Dame.
In a game that was decided in favor of the Lady Irish on the last possession in a 51-49 win, the contest stayed close the whole way through. Run after run the teams would continue to match each other, as neither team could gain a comfortable lead against one another. Although they would try.
Trying with her efforts was one of the guards for the Lady Hurricanes, Arianna Calhoun. Calhoun would lead a surge for the Hurricanes in the second quarter knocking down three three-pointers in all in a short span. This sharpshooting from Calhoun would help East Hamilton go into the half with a six-point advantage. A lead that seemed healthy for how the game had gone up to that point, but Notre Dame would be quick to have an answer.
A Notre Dame run led by guard, Maliyah Maples, would take place right out of the gates of the third quarter. Maples would do her damage in a much different style than how Calhoun did hers in the second quarter, Maples would do hers from within the arc. From shooting floaters to layups, securing boards, and capitalizing in the second chance point department. Maples was a terror inside the arc for the Lady Hurricanes. Her efforts would flip the scoreboard back in favor of her Notre Dame team as they would go into the 4th quarter with a 42-38 lead. But just as Calhoun’s efforts did to gain an advantage for her squad, the lead Maples helped gain for the Lady Irish would soon evaporate.
It would turn into a two-point game. Notre Dame would have the lead, but possession would fall in the favor of East Hamilton, with just four seconds remaining.
The once stressed-out coach Baird when trying to call a last-second timeout now stood calm as he turned to his players. He would echo the same smile he and the referee shared as he entered a huddle with them to try to draw up a game-winner. The ball was to be inbounded on the sideline opposite of East Hamilton’s basket. Both teams would walk out with a look of determination, as this one play would decide the game.
The Hurricanes would set up to inbound and would pass the ball into the arms of their point guard, Alexis Price. Price would make a move and advance the ball forward to their team’s sharpshooter Calhoun. Calhoun would dribble up into an open three and let the ball fly as all clocks turned to zero. Calhoun would finish the day with a game-high of four threes. The last-second heave however would not be one of them. The lasts second heave would come up short hitting the left side of the rim.
It was a great game played by both sides, but the Notre Dame Girls Basketball team would get the better of the East Hamilton’s Girls in this early season matchup.
NOTRE DAME 15 11 16 9 -- 51
EAST HAMILTON 15 17 6 11 -- 49
NOTRE DAME (51) - Baird 3, Spurgen 5, Perryman 7, Maliyah Maples 16, Callie McCormick 14, Wright 6
EAST HAMILTON (49) - Maddox 4, Price 7, Noa Woodruff 17, Arianna Calhoun 12, Laboo 9,
3-point goals: Notre Dame 5 (McCormick 4, Spurgen); East Hamilton 5 (Price, Calhoun 4)
Records: Notre Dame 1-0, 0-0; East Hamilton 0-1, 0-0.