Victory over former SEK league foe Independence was well within grasp for the Fillies on Saturday in the fifth-place game of the Burlington Invitational Tournament.
With 40 seconds left, the Fillies found themselves down two with the ball. Junior Ellie Carson looked to put a topper on what was already one of her best games of the year, scoring 22 points, by driving right at the hoop — fighting through contact — to tie or take the lead.
Carson’s shot went in and the Blue and Yellow faithful went nuts as the referee blew his whistle. In the minds of Fillie fans, not only had they tied it but a go-ahead free throw was on the way.
The call, however, was not a block but a charge and the basket was waived off, crushing the excitement in the Burlington Middle School gym that afternoon.
“I think it probably could’ve gone either way,” head coach Becky Carlson said. “I think most officials wouldn’t have called anything. The ref under the basket had the best view and he called a block but the other guys talked about it and overturned it. But we had some miscues on our part that made that bucket matter.”
Iola got a final possession with 10 seconds left but was unable to get a shot off and the Fillies fell to sixth-place overall in the tournament.
“We had a good effort,” Carlson said. “We were intense the whole game and we never gave up. But we just came up one basket short.
We just kept scratching and clawing They never gave up. I thought we played smart and did a really good job. Aside from how it ended, I’ll take that game any day.”
Independence grabbed an early 6-0 lead before the Fillies got on the board and the Bulldogs held at least a four-point lead up until the final minutes of the game.
A 7-2 run to start the half put Independence out ahead by 10.
Iola battled back though and had cut the Bulldogs lead to just three by the end of the third quarter.
With five minutes left to play, the Fillies were in need of a spark. Not only were they trailing by a couple of possessions but they had five more fouls than Independence and were stuck in the double bonus for the rest of the game.
