Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and to hear post-game comments from Lauren Zawada, Makenna Hendrickson, Aubree Blackburn, and Coach James Fassett. Also click the AUDIO button to hear McKenzie Hoffmeyer's player spotlight interview.
FLINT---The Bay College Norse women's basketball team was down-and-out several times in the second half of Friday's NJCAA Region 12 semifinal game against Grand Rapids Community College, but bounced back each time and pulled out a dramatic 57-55 victory at the Ballenger Fieldhouse.
The result moved the Norse into Sunday's regional championship game against the second-ranked team in the country, the Schoolcraft Ocelots, who have a 30-0 record and have broken the 100-point scoring mark eleven times.
But none of that mattered to the ladies who danced in the fieldhouse hallway as they put the Norse logo on the finals portion of the tournament bracket.
“Finally, a two-point game goes our way,” Norse Coach James Fassett said. “Normally, we lose the one and two-point games. But finally, a two-point game goes our way.”
“I feel great,” sophomore Makenna Hendrickson said. “I'm super pumped that we get to move on to the next game. It feels awesome. We knew they were going to do that (apply intense defensive pressure on her) and so we just talked about how we needed to play our game and just have control of the ball, slow down, and just find the openings.”
Lauren Zawada's two free throws with 0.1 second left on the clock broke the 55-55 tie. It came after the Norse rallied from a ten-point deficit to take the lead entering the fourth quarter, with Chloe Seymour getting a clutch steal and banking in a shot at the third quarter buzzer.
But the Norse fell behind again by seven points before mounting a last-minute comeback. Tianna Daye knocked down a triple for GRCC (20-10 overall) to give the Raiders a 52-45 lead with 4:05 to play.
With 3:25 on the clock, Zawada missed a layup but Aubree Blackburn got the offensive rebound, put it back up and in to cut the deficit to five.
“I felt like I was a lot more aggressive today,” Blackburn said. “At first, I didn't start off like I should have. But I picked it up and it felt like it paid off. We knew that we could come back. We just had to fix the little things and pick up the aggression.”
The Raiders missed an easy lay-up at the other end, and the Norse attacked the basket offensively, with Zawada getting fouled.
The sophomore from Bark River-Harris High School made both free throws, bringing the Norse to within 52-49 with 2:20 on the clock. GRCC rebuilt its five-point lead when Averi Peot scored with 1:30 to go, but twelve seconds later, Hendrickson made a lay-up from under the basket and she was fouled. The sophomore from Baraga High School completed the three-point play, making it a 54-52 GRCC lead heading down the stretch.
“Oh, I was pumped,” Hendrickson said. “I was like, let's go!!!”
Zawada came up with a big steal on defense, and got the ball to Hendrickson, who was fouled again. She split the free throws, making it a 54-53 game. Then with 30 seconds left, the Norse had a chance to take the lead, but Peot stole the ball from Zawada. The Norse had to commit three fouls to put the Raiders on the free throw line with 15 seconds on the clock. Harmonie Belton split the foul shots, and it was 55-53.
Bay came back up court, and an over-the-top pass to Zawada in the paint got her in position to tie the game. Zawada's lay-up tied the game at 55-55 with 11.6 seconds to play. The Raiders came up with a chance to win the game, but a shot from the free throw line area by Daye hung on the rim and fell off. Zawada got the rebound with 0.9 seconds to play, and Fassett called a time-out to advance the ball into the front court.
“We kind of ran our play the first time and got a lay-up,” Fasett said. “We had one pass and got the lay-up. The second time, I'm looking at the clock, and I thought they were going to adjust the time (from 0.9 seconds). They didn't, and I'm like, wait a minute, aren't we going to talk about the time? Because, when you guys granted me the time out, there was at least a one (second) up there. They were like, no, without replay, we can't.”
Before the Norse could inbound the ball, Fassett called another time out.
“Well, when I turned around, we were already on the court,” Fassett said. “I had only drawn up like half of the play! So, then, I'm thinking, okay, I've got another time out, let me call another time out, and okay, let's back-screen for Lauren close to the basket. Nina, just throw it up to Lauren, and have her go get it. Lauren was like, do I just shoot it? And I was like, no, just think 'one-thousand-one' turn, and just jump. You might het fouled, you might not.”
Well, after that time out, the Norse ran a play to the baseline that has worked several times before, but this time, there was no wide-open lay-up. Zawada caught the ball, went up, bent toward the basket, and the whistle blew. Foul on Daye with 0.1 seconds left.
“I was shocked,” Zawada said. “I was sure we would get it to Makenna, or trust Nina (Bower) to hit a three. But it came to me and I did what I could.”
Zawada calmly went to the free throw and made both shots, with the Norse men's team howling behind the Bay bench. GRCC did not have enough time to legally get off a shot, and the Norse got arguably their biggest victory in program history.
“I just told myself, don't get too over-excited, just stay calm,” Zawada said. “It's just like every day in practice. Same form. And, they went in!”
GRCC Coach David Glazier argued the foul call as Daye stood by, stunned.
“They called the foul on that and Lauren toughed it out,” Fassett said. “I got a lot of complaints about the refs. He had complaints about the refs. We didn't play our greatest. At the end of the day, this time of year, to keep winning, a little bit of luck has to go your way. We were really tight in a lot of the game.”
“One of the things I always say is, we've got to stay in the fight. For a while, the fight got away from us, but we got back into it. We stayed in the fight. A call went our way. I guess the man was looking down on us.”
Zawada sat on the bench for long stretches of the game because of foul trouble. She got two fouls in the first quarter, then picked up a third in the second quarter. Zawada was whistled for a fourth time, so she sat again. Fassett brought her back in with 7:51 to play.
“It was kind of hitting me on the bench,” Zawada admitted. “I was trying not to get emotional because it could be my last game forever potentially and I'm on the bench with four fouls. So, I was like, when I go in, I need to give it my all.”
She did. Zawada led the Norse with 18 points and nine rebounds in just 22 minutes of play. Hendrickson added 14 points and seven rebounds, and Blackburn added eleven points an nine boards. For GRCC, Allision Rockburn had a team-high ten points. Daye and Peot both chipped in nine points.
The Norse won despite making only one three-point basket in the entire game, turning the ball over 22 times, and missing eleven free throws.
Bay College will play in a regional championship game for just the second time in the nine-year history of the program, and for the first time since moving from Region 13 to Region 12. They'll face second-ranked Schoolcraft, who beat Edison State (Ohio), 95-45, in Friday's first semifinal.
“They're undefeated for a reason.” Fassett said. “But again, it's just 'stay in the fight'. I know if we're going to win, we are definitely going to have to hit some threes. And we'll have to be better from the free throw line. And then we've just got to be sound defensively. We can't make stupid plays and get into foul trouble. They're going to hit shots. Hopefully, we hit shots. It's fun to play in games like this. I've said if you want to be the best, you've got to beat the best. They're obviously one of the best teams in the country.”
“I'm honored to play them, for sure. Never back down. We're going to bring the fight. If we win, we're going to North Carolina (for nationals). If we lose, we've had a great season, and we've got nothing to hang our heads about.”
“It feels awesome that we get to go and play against Schoolcraft,” Blackburn added. “If we can win that one, it would be awesome.”
Sunday's game starts at 11 am and it will be broadcast live on Maverick 106.3 FM and at the audio link at www.baynorse.com.
