Ben’s Ford Christian School’s Lady Eagles shut out their opponent over the final 1:31 and scored the game’s final six points in a 46-40 victory over Central Private School at home Tuesday. The win helped the Lady Eagles move to 4-0 this season in MAIS play, and 5-0 overall.
Central Private tied the game at 40-40 when Morgan Campbell hit a shot with 1:31 to go.
Ben’s Ford took a two-point lead when Celeste Crowe made a field goal 10 seconds later to make it 42-40.
Crowe recorded a double-double and was just a steal short of a triple-double. Crowe had 11 rebounds, nine steals, an assist and she blocked a shot.
The Lady Eagles extended their lead when Crowe passed to Bailey Stewart. Stewart was fouled and drained both free throws with 34 seconds to go.
Central Private had a chance to get closer, but missed both double-bonus free throws with 22 seconds to go.
Stewart was good on both ends of a 1-and-1 to cap the scoring at 46-40.
“I was real proud of them,” Ben’s Ford coach Mark McGehee. “They fought hard even when they got down, they didn’t give up and played together as a team. We still have a few things we need to clean up, but I was real proud of them.”
The game was close throughout.
The biggest lead by either team was nine points, when Ben’s Ford was up 20-11 with 4:44 left in the first half.
Central Private closed the gap to 20-17 with six unanswered points to end the period.
Ben’s Ford pushed the lead to two possessions at the outset of the second half on a pair of free throws by Kelci Freeman.
The Lady Eagles took a 27-21 lead at the 2:13 mark of the third quarter and led by that margin at 29-23 through three periods.
Central Private’s Danielle Loftstrom hit a shot with 17 seconds left in the third quarter to make it a six-point game and Central Private added six in a row to start the final period.
Loftstrom hit a layup on the first possession of the fourth. Loftstrom made another layup at the 6:26 mark and Campbell tied the game with a jumper to tie the game at 29-29 with 5:51 left.
From there, neither team held a lead bigger than four until Stewart’s two free throws late.
Freeman tied Crowe with a game-high 16 points. Freeman pulled down seven rebounds and made five steals.
Stewart and Valerie Paige posted four each. Stewart had six rebounds, an assist and a pair of steals. Page recorded seven rebounds.
Alaina McClelland and Abby Smith both recorded three points with each hitting a 3-pointer in the victory. McClelland tallied a rebound and two steals. Smith grabbed five boards and dished out an assist.
Sylvia Rosa posted five rebounds.
Loftstrom tallied 12 points that included a three for Central Private.
Tori Richard totaled 11.
Campbell and Sally Anne Torres had five points each while Briana Threeton tallied three points and Anna Dale and Lauren Dale both had two.
In previous MAIS games, Ben’s Ford opened the season on Nov. 1 with a 40-21 win over Wilkinson County Christian Academy.
Crowe had a double-double with 20 points, 17 rebounds to go with an assist, two steals and two blocked shots.
Stewart tallied eight points, seven boards, two assists and a trio of steals.
Smith had five points, four boards, one assist and a steal.
Page totaled two points, eight boards, an assist and a pair of steals.
Lindsey McGehee posted two points, three rebounds, an assist, a steal and a blocked shot.
Allie Jacobs recorded two points and four boards.
Freeman added a point, a rebound, an assist, two steals and a blocked shot.
McClelland had four points and three steals while Rosa, Dani Descant and Baileigh Crain all tallied one rebound.
The Lady Eagles defeated Discovery Christian School, 49-12, the following day.
Smith had nine points, two steals and she blocked a shot.
McGehee scored nine points and pulled down a rebound.
Stewart posted eight points, a rebound, three assists and three steals.
Page netted seven points and a rebound.
Rosa tallied six points and a rebound.
Freeman recorded four points, a pair of rebounds, an assist and she made two steals.
McClelland put up four points, two rebounds, an assist and two steals.
Crowe had two points, three rebounds and four steals.
Crain tallied four rebounds and a steal while Jacobs and Kimberly Stogner grabbed a rebound and made a steal each and Descant made a steal.
The Lady Eagles continued their winning ways on Monday with a 37-23 victory over Wilkinson County Christian Academy on the road.
Smith tallied nine points and four boards.
Freeman scored seven points to go with four boards, two assists and four steals.
Crowe posted five points, 10 rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Page totaled four points, three boards and two steals.
McGehee had four points, a rebound and three steals.
Descant posted two points and a pair of rebounds.
Stewart had a point, five rebounds, an assist, a steal and a blocked shot.
Karly McGee made two steals while Crain tallied a rebound and Rosa made a steal.
Ben’s Ford played again yesterday, but the game was not completed by press time.