Maranatha center Onye Osemenam had missed six consecutive free throws and, frankly, none of them were close.
In the meantime, Spring Grove was in the process of a spirited comeback, having cut a 12-point Maranatha lead to one point with 27 seconds remaining. A foul sent Maranatha’s Alexis Long to the free throw line.
Long made the first one but missed the second, giving Spring Grove the opportunity it was looking for.
But Osemenam extended her 6-foot-2 frame as far it could stretch, snatching the rebound. Her ensuing layup gave the Mustangs much-needed breathing room and they held on to beat Spring Grove, the smallest school in the tournament, 65-61.
“It was all instinct,” said Osemenam, whose rebound was the biggest of her game-high 17. “I just put it in the Lord’s hands and he helped me come through.”
Up to that point, however, Spring Grove – enrollment 89 – had given every indication that it was going to complete a second-straight remarkable comeback. The Lions had rallied from a 10-point deficit in the quarterfinals to beat Warren-Alvarado-Oslo in overtime.
Their relentless harassment of Maranatha’s guards in the final seven minutes of the second half had Lions fans roaring and the Maranatha fans imploring their team for just one big play.
“We were shaky,” Maranatha coach Jim Hammond admitted.
For the game’s first 29 minutes, Maranatha had been content to shoot over the top of the Spring Grove defense. The Mustangs hit a tournament record-tying 11 three-pointers, six of them by guard Madison Lee. As soon as the perimeter pressure was turned up, however, the long-range bombing came to a halt.
That’s when Osemenam took over. She controlled the interior and took away second-chance opportunities. Had she not struggled from the free throw line, the game would not have been as close.
“When she was younger, she might have gotten down on herself,” Hammond said. “But she’s a mature junior now. She didn’t let things bother her.”