PHILIPSBURG — Philipsburg-Osceola guard Halle Herrington scored 28 points and was seemingly everywhere in the Lady Mounties’ 53-51 opening night victory over West Branch at P-O High School on Dec. 12.
Even so, it was Herrington’s work at not trying to score that sealed the victory over the neighborhood rival Lady Warriors.
With Philipsburg ahead 52-48 and just under a minute to play, the Warriors’ Skylar Ceprish nailed a 3-pointer to bring her team to within a basket of winning the game.
But West Branch had just three team fouls in the half, and the Warriors somehow had to get the ball out of Herrington’s hands before time expired.
Stealing it was just about out of the question, so the Warriors fouled her once, twice, three times and then, finally, with 3.5 seconds to play, the fourth one put her on the line with a 1-and-1.
It wasn’t much of a chance for West Branch, but there was possibly enough time to rush off a shot to win or tie the game.
After a lane violation gave Herrington another chance — she missed her first try — the sophomore guard swished the next one to make it a 53-51 game. She missed the back end, however, but WB could not cleanly field the ball and the clock ran out.
It was the Mounties’ first win of the new season, and it snapped a 12-game losing streak that stretched back to Jan. 11. It also marked the first career win for new Mounties head coach Alexis Bacher.
“We definitely had to slow it down and work it,” Herrington said, “and we had to stop them. And when I saw her run in (for the lane violation) I definitely thought it was fair game now whether I made it or missed it.”
She missed that first chance, but that was one of the only things she missed all night.
The teams played an even first quarter that ended at 7-7, but then Herrington and forward Lacey Potter (15 points) led P-O to leads a big as 10 points.
West Branch was resilient, though, and Ceprish, along with Hailey Prestash and Alaina Speigle, scored late baskets that brought WB back to within 25-22 at the half.
Speaking at halftime to her team for the first time, Bacher was succinct. “I just told them to believe in themselves,” she said. “We can do this if we play eight minutes at a time. Just focus on eight minutes and then eight minutes. They have to believe in themselves and each other, and that’s one of our biggest things this year.”
Still, Ceprish (19 points), Prestash (17) and Speigle (10) picked it up in the second half. West Branch took a one-point lead into the fourth quarter, 41-40, and the teams battled back-and-forth until a 3-pointer by Potter broke a tie and gave P-O a 50-47 lead.
Cassidy Hughes followed with a jumper that made it 52-47, but a foul shot by Prestash and Ceprish’s 3-pointer set up the final sequence.
“She (Herrington) knows how to work the ball,” Bacher said. “We knew they were going to come fouling, but Halle can get away from them. We weren’t too awful worried, but we did what we had to do at practice and we did what we had to do tonight.”
For the game, Ceprish, Prestash and Speigle combined to score 46 of the West Branch 51 points, with Jessica Milliron and Brynn Bell accounting for the other five.
Beside Herrington and Potter, Loryn Hughes added six, Cassidy Hughes had four and Megan Winters two for the Mounties.
“That was a tough start, but we ended up doing very well,” Herrrington said. “We had to go in very confident, work well and run the plays we went over. It was great. Awesome.”
