By Bruce Campbell

Despite their 21-1 overall mark and a 14-0 ECC championship season,

Glen Este’s girls basketball team was no stranger to double digit deficits while compiling the best record in school history, having overcome them in four of their last eight games.

On Wednesday, Feb. 17, in their opening state tournament game, the Lady Trojans nearly pulled off another big comeback before dropping a 50-49 decision to Lakota East in the Division I sectional tournament.

Glen Este trailed 29-23 at halftime, having missed several layups and all of their three point attempts, while Lakota East had hit a couple of threes and also pounded the ball inside effectively.

The margin ranged between three and eight points throughout the third quarter and the first six minutes of the final period, as Lakota’s slowdown, ball-control play had held GE to only two Anna Smith free throws in the fourth quarter. With two minutes to go, the Trojans were down 48-41.

That’s when the big comeback began.

Kelly Simon made a three-point play the old-fashioned way, though inverted —making a free throw, missing a free throw, grabbing her own rebound and dropping in a put-back, to make it 48-44.

A bit later, Jasmine Hale hit two free throws, 48-46. Lakota made one of two from the line, going up 49-46 with 35 seconds left.

Payton Funk then drilled her second three of the evening to tie the game, 49-49, with 27 seconds left.

Lakota held the ball 25 seconds for the last shot and it bounced off the rim into four hands, high in the air, a pair of them Lakota’s, a pair of them Glen Este’s. There were 1.5 seconds to play.

Most everyone in the gym expected a jump ball to be called, but an official sprinted in from mid-court to call a foul on GE. Lakota made the first charity toss, missed the second, GE rebounded and a whistle blew. No one knew what to expect this time, but a foul on Lakota, however improbable, seemed the only possible call.

The three officials huddled, came up with a game plan, and announced that it was an “inadvertent whistle.”

It would be Glen Este’s ball out of bounds, 90 feet from the basket, with 0.8 seconds to play.

Even the “comeback kids” couldn’t pull this one out, and their great season came to an end.