John Paul II girls basketball was able to shake off a sluggish performance for much of the night and capitalize in the final minute Tuesday, as Maddie Heathcott’s putback with two seconds left lifted the Golden Warriors to a 33-31 home win over St. Vincent’s.
Heathcott tied it up a possession earlier, and after teaming with Gracie Henderson to trap and draw a jump-ball call, she capped off a flurry of activity under the basket in the waning seconds to put in the game-winner.
“These girls never gave up and fought hard throughout the entire game,” JPII coach Karen Floyd said. “We struggled tonight with turnovers against a very aggressive St Vincent’s defense and only hit 3 for 17 from the foul line, which made for an uphill battle most of the game.”
Heathcott finished with nine points and six rebounds in the defensive struggle, while Brady Mahoney put up a strong line with nine points, five rebounds, seven steals, and six deflections for JPII. Cayce Graves added eight points and three boards, and everyone contributed to a stifling defensive effort down the stretch.
“Our defense really came through in the final 40 seconds,” Floyd said. “After needing to foul twice to try and get the ball back, we played great deny defense, which led to Maddie hitting a very tough layup to tie it.”
JPII (2-0) hosts Patrick Henry on Friday.
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