Vina girls narrowly lose tournament heartbreaker

The Vina Red Devils finished runner–up in their Thanksgiving Tournament Saturday, losing to Waterloo 46-44.

Vina had two shots in the final seconds to tie or win the game – to no avail.

Sara Harper scored what would have been the game-tying basket in the final seconds. Scott was fouled on the shot, but the officials said the foul happened before the shot, both negating the made basket and the potential game–winning free throw attempt.

Because Vina was not in the bonus, they got the ball out of bounds. On the inbounds pass, Kass Gessler attempted a three-point shot for the win, but the ball rimmed out.

Vina had led Waterloo 22-18 at halftime but the Cougars battled back to tie the game by the end of the third quarter.

Sara Scott led Vina with 15 points. Harper added 13 points, and Kaley Attaway added 12 points.  Kaitlyn Athey finished with four points.

In the semifinals, Vina beat Thrasher of Mississippi 57-52. Thrasher built a 20-13 lead in the first quarter and led Vina 44-38 heading into the fourth quarter.

Athey and Harper combined for 15 of Vina’s 19 fourth–quarter points to lead the Red Devils’ comeback win.

Athey led Vina with 21 points, including eight in the fourth quarter. Harper followed with 12 points, including seven in the fourth quarter. Gesler added 10 points. Scott finished with eight points. Abbie Petree, K.K. Mitchell and Attaway scored two points each.

Vina won the opening game of the tournament over Brilliant 62-54. Vina led 27-18 at halftime and 40-37 at the end of the third quarter.

The Red Devils scored 22 points in the fourth quarter. Athey, Cantrell and Gesler each hit a three-pointer, and Vina made nine free throws down the stretch.

Athey led Vina with 22 points. Scott had 11 points and 20 rebounds for a double-double. Cantrell added 11 points.