Rocky Mountain wanted to hold for the last shot in OT. She had a better idea
Averee Osterhout only sank one field goal Thursday. But she made it count.
The junior guard drained a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left in overtime, leading the No. 7 Grizzlies to a 55-52 win over No. 2 Thunder Ridge in the first round of the 5A girls basketball state tournament.
Osterhout’s heroic shot didn’t follow the game plan. Rocky Mountain (17-8) and Thunder Ridge (24-3) were tied at 52 with a minute left at the Ford Idaho Center. So the Grizzlies planned to hold for the last shot with no shot clock at the state tournament.
But despite missing her only other field goal attempt Thursday, Osterhout dialed it up from downtown in front of the Rocky Mountain bench.
“I must have yelled one shot about eight times as loud as I could,” Humphreys said with a smile. “I told her in the locker room, ‘Hey, we were holding for one (shot), but that was a better play than the one I was going to draw up.’
“She was wide open. She’s a great shooter. She struggled a little bit tonight, but I love her confidence.”
Osterhout admits she heard Humphreys call for the last shot. But the moment presented itself to her, and she took it.
“Honestly, I just felt in rhythm,” Osterhout said. “(Humphreys has) always told me that if my feet are set and I’m in motion, to just shoot the ball. I just felt that my feet were set, that I was ready to shoot, and so I just fired away.”
Osterhout’s 3-pointer capped a wild opening game that saw the seventh-seeded Grizzlies knock off second-seeded Thunder Ridge. But Rocky Mountain refused to call it an upset.
“I came in thinking we were the two seed, not the seven seed,” Humphreys said. “We’ve had a great season. We’ve been the No. 2 team in our conference all year. We’re a great team. This was a great win for us. This wasn’t an upset.”
Rocky Mountain trailed by as many as six points in the fourth quarter. But the Grizzlies held Thunder Ridge scoreless for the next 5 minutes, mounting a 10-0 run to retake the lead.
Thunder Ridge’s Aspen Caldwell hit a 5-foot jumper with 7 seconds left to send the game into overtime. But Osterhout and the Grizzlies got the last laugh.
Cianna Legaspi led Rocky Mountain with 14 points and six rebounds. And Brielle Magnuson and Anna DaBell each chipped in 12 points.
Thunder Ridge’s Marley Spencer poured in a game-high 25 points, sinking 7-of-13 3-pointers. And Caldwell, an Idaho signee, added 14 points.
This story was originally published February 16, 2023 at 2:57 PM.
