Senior guard Kayla Nevitt’s layup with 42 seconds left lifted the DeKaney Lady Wildcats over Klein Forest, 42-39 on Tuesday night at DeKaney High School.
The win keeps the Wildcats tied for first place with Atascocita, who bested Klein Collins, 61-41 on Tuesday night at Collins High School. Both are co-district champs with an unknown decision to be made for playoff seedings.
Nevitt, eager to complete the Wildcats’ comeback, used a ball fake to Penetrate the Eagles’ defense for an open finger roll which gave Dekaney a 40-39 lead with 42 seconds left.
“I thought we shot horribly,” Dekaney’s coach Stacey Stroman continued. We haven’t shot that bad in a long time. We’re lucky to get the win.
The Wildcats (28-2, 15-1) began the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run.
Sophomore point guard Jaelyn Richard Harris connected on a running-floater; Nevitt netted a jumper after a steal, and Harris drained a free throw. That tied the game at 34.
After Harris’ third steal, Lauren Grisby sank two free throws to give DeKaney a 36-34 edge; the first lead since late in the second quarter.
“We started lagging on defense. We came into this game thinking we had it because we blew them out last time we played them,” DeKaney’s guard Grigsby said.
Grigsby led the Wildcats with 14 points, Harris and Nevitt added ten each.
Klein Forest (25-8, 11-5) continued to snowball and found it challenging to match the Wildcats’energy.
The Eagles scored only five points the remaining 3:00 minutes of the game. Including Jeliah Preston’s trey, which gave the Golden Eagles a 37-36 lead with 3:25 left.
“I felt like we lost it a little. We buckled under pressure,” explained Eagle’s guard Jeliah Preston.
Grigsby and Nevitt answered with a pair of free throws and a layup, respectively, giving DeKaney the lead for keeps, 40-37.
Ebony Parker’s running shot in the lane pulled Klein Forest within a point, 40-39. However, Grigsby converted another layup to stretch the lead 42-39, the final margin of victory.
With one last desperation chance, Parker’s three-point shot rimmed out as the buzzer sounded.
Ekiya Gray, Ebony Parker and Jeliah Preston led the Eagles with nine points.
Forward Regina Scott opened the first quarter with a follow-up basket after Parker’s missed shot to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. Right after, Grigsby and Harris drilled back-to-back three-pointers, giving DeKaney, a 6-2 lead.
Dekaney continued its consistency, outscoring the Eagles 6-4 for the duration of the quarter and led 12-6 entering the second quarter.
The Wildcats built a nine-point lead, 19-10, after Abigail Whyte’s 3-pointer and Grigsby’s jumper in the paint.
That’s when Klein Forest forced a pair of turnovers which sparked a 13-0 run that gave the Eagles a 21-19 lead with under a minute left in the quarter.
