Eagles edged by buzzer-beater

Saturday, January 24, 2009

By TIM TUTTLE

For the Banner Graphic

South Putnam's girls basketball team lost a heartbreaker Tuesday.

Jessica Standeford's game-winning 19-foot jump shot with six seconds remaining lifted Monrovia to a 57-56 victory in a West Central Conference game on the Eagles' court.

South Putnam's Oceaia Boetjer barely missed at the buzzer, with a 19-foot jumper from the wing, grazing the front of the rim.

The Eagles (7-7, 0-3 WCC) broke out of a tie with an 8-0 run to take a 44-36 lead with 6:07 remaining.

The Bulldogs (7-9, 4-1 WCC) rallied to close their deficit to 54-53 on Julia Porter's two free throws with 1:22 remaining.

South Putnam freshman Jenny Thompson made two free throws with 59.3 seconds on the clock for a 56-53 advantage.

Porter missed a 3-pointer for Monrovia and the Eagles rebounded and got the ball into their front court. But the Bulldogs' trap forced a loose ball and South Putnam was called for a foul in the scramble to get it.

Porter made two free throws with 33.2 seconds remaining to cut South Putnam's lead to 56-55.

Monrovia pressed full-court and South Putnam turned the ball over with 30.6 seconds left.

The Bulldogs had three shots after that. Knieper missed a 3-pointer and Porter grabbed the rebound. Her shot from the baseline was blocked out of bounds by South Putnam.

On the in-bounds play with 10 seconds to play, Monrovia tossed it to Standeford, a 5-foot-11 senior who rarely shoots from outside the line. Standeford had an open look and launched the shot, which swished through the net.

"We'd had some success with Jessica (Standeford) coming out high and creating room on the baseline for (another player) to drive," Monrovia coach Jim Porter said. "She had the presence of mind to see she was open. There wasn't much time on the clock left and somebody had to shoot it. We wanted to give ourselves enough time to rebound if she missed."

South Putnam called time at 5.4 seconds. Boetjer dribbled the ball into the front court and was forced towards the baseline. Running out of time, the 5-foot-6 senior got off an on-target shot that was inches short.

Oceaia Boetjer led South Putnam with 16 points. Jenny Thompson added 14 points for the Eagles. Brooke Boetjer led South Putnam with eight rebounds.

Knieper scored 17 to lead Monrovia and Standeford had 16 points and nine rebounds.

South Putnam's next game is Tuesday at Tri-West.

At South Putnam

Monrovia15111021--57
South Putnam12111518--56

MONROVIA (57)

Porter 3-10 6-7 12, Knieper 6-13 2-2 17, Standeford 7-14 2-4 16, Dillon 2-6 2-2 7, Engel 2-2 1-2 5, Rednour 0-7 0-1 0, Kaiser 0-1 0-0 0, Vondersaar 0-1 0-0 0, Shields 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 20-43 13-18 57.

SOUTH PUTNAM (56)

O. Boetjer 6-20 4-6 16, Searles 3-5 3-4 9, B. Boetjer 2-4 2-2 6, Jes. Thompson 0-1 2-3 2, Dabkowski 3-5 3-4 9, Jen. Thompson 4-11 6-9 14, Burnham 0-1 0-1 0, Totals 18-47 20-25 56.

3-point field goals: Mon 4-17 (Knieper 3-6, Dillon 1-2, Porter 0-3, Rednour 0-6), SP 0-4 (O. Boetjer 0-3, Jen. Thompson 0-1). Rebounds: Mon 37 (Standeford 9, Porter 5), SP 37 (B. Boetjer 8, Searles 6). Turnovers: Mon 12, SP 12; Total fouls: Mon 23, SP 17. Fouled out: Dillon, Engel.

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