Photo Showcase: Lincoln Northeast at Millard North

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Lincoln Northeast won a girls basketball game Monday night against Millard North by using a play that was equal parts baseball and football.

Senior guard Brianna Craig sank a layup with two seconds left to lift the 10th-ranked Rockets to a 47-45 win over the sixth-ranked Mustangs. But it was the way that play developed that left the Mustangs’ home crowd stunned.

With the game tied, Northeast coach Steve Bartek set up the play — known as “home run” — after calling a timeout with 5.2 seconds left. Inbounding the ball under the Millard North basket, freshman Jamie Holscher threw a pass over the pressing defense that Craig caught in stride near midcourt.

The Kansas State recruit then raced in for the layup that broke the 45-45 score and allowed Northeast to boost its record to 15-4. Millard North fell to 14-5.

“We knew they’d come with intense pressure the final five seconds,” Bartek said. “We thought we had a chance for our home run play, so we went with it.”

Holscher had another big play with 32 seconds left, canning a 3-pointer to tie the game. The Mustangs had a chance to reclaim the lead, but a 3-point attempt by Mary Dineen with 8 seconds left bounced off the rim.

Northeast’s Toni Tupper grabbed the rebound — her 11th of the game — and Bartek called a timeout to set up the winning play.

“We work on that play over and over in practice,” Craig said. “Jamie has a great arm and she threw a great pass.”

The Rockets led much of the game, which was postponed by snow Saturday night, and held a nine-point edge late in the second quarter. But an 11-0 run by the Mustangs that extended into the third quarter brought Millard North back, and the Mustangs opened up a four-point advantage with four minutes remaining.

Northeast stayed in the game by sinking 12 of 18 free throws in the second half. The Rockets made just four baskets from the field after halftime — three by Craig and one by Holscher.

“We usually see a zone defense,” Bartek said. “We haven’t really seen a tough man-to-man defense like this one all season.”

That defense forced 22 turnovers, but the Mustangs couldn’t take advantage in part because of their subpar shooting. Millard North shot 33 percent from the field, including 2-for-15 from 3-point range.

Craig finished with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds.

“This was a really big win for us,” Craig said. “We’ve had two tough losses recently (against Class B Lincoln Pius X and Class A No. 9 Lincoln Southwest) so we needed this one.”

Dineen led the Mustangs with 13 points.

Lincoln Northeast (15-4) .......... 14 12 11 10—47
At Millard North (14-5) .......... 9 12 14 10—45
LNE: Devin Edwards 0-3 4-6 4, Brianna Craig 10-21 3-4 24, Jamie Holscher 3-6 4-5 12, Morgan Ewing 0-1 2-3 2, Toni Tupper 0-6 5-10 5. Totals 13-37 18-28 47.
MN: Rachel Hagge 4-7 0-0 9, Holly Hild 2-7 0-1 4, Brooke Savage 1-3 0-0 2, Mary Dineen 4-18 4-5 13, Kenae Merritt 0-3 0-0 0, Taylor Bahensky 4-9 1-1 9, Jordan Tynes 1-2 1-2 3, Haley Tarpinian 0-4 0-1 0, Allie Swanson 2-4 1-2 5. Totals 18-57 7-12 45.
3-point goals: LNE 3-8 (Edwards 0-2, Craig 1-4, Holscher 2-2); MN 2-15 (Hagge 1-3, Hild 0-1, Savage 0-1, Dineen 1-10). Rebounds: LNE 36 (Tupper 11); MN 35 (Tarpinian 7, Bahensky 7). Total fouls: LNE 14; MN 22. Turnovers: LNE 22; MN 15. Field-goal percentage: LNE .351; MN .333. Free-throw percentage: LNE .642; MN .583. A: 300 (est.).

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402-444-1350, mike.patterson@owh.com

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