Jones' two free throws help Brookfield top South Range

The Warriors outlasted the Raiders, 37-34, to advance against Lisbon.
BY ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HANOVERTON -- Call it a hunch or just plain luck, but Brookfield High's Kelly Jones had a feeling her team's Division III tournament success might depend on free throw shooting.
That's why the junior spent extra time at the free throw line during Wednesday's practice -- a lot of time. Jones shot 132 free throws during the session, making an estimated 75 percent of them.
Thursday night in a sectional title game against South Range at United High School, she only needed to make two.
With five seconds remaining and Brookfield clinging to a 35-34 lead, Jones calmly drilled two charity tosses, extending the advantage to three points.
A 3-pointer by South Range hit the front of the rim as time expired and the top-seeded Warriors escaped with a 37-34 victory and advanced to next week's district semifinal against Lisbon.
"I just didn't think about it and just shot," said Jones, when asked about her thoughts with the game on the line. "You just try to stay in your routine and not think. If you think about it too much, you'll miss.
"Free throw shooting is our team's worst percentage so we try to work on that. I shot 132 free throws yesterday, while my coach counted. I usually only shoot about 50. Everyone stepped up at the end tonight and we got the win."
Raiders battle back
Brookfield, the district's No. 1 seed, got all it could handle from a determined South Range squad. After falling behind 8-0 in the first quarter, the Raiders battled back and stayed with five points most of the way.
South Range's interior defense held Brookfield standout Morgan Bonekovic in check by double teaming her in the post and denying entry passes. The Warriors were forced to play more of a perimeter offense and struggled at times.
"They did a great job," said Brookfield coach Shawn Hammond. "They made it very difficult to get the ball inside. We hit some perimeter shots early on, but then got cold for a while. We had Lauren Gentile in foul trouble, too and that got us out of whack for a while.
"In the fourth quarter we were able to reverse the ball a little better and find some better shots on the baseline. Kelly made some clutch free throws for us at the end. It's definitely tournament time and you can throw the records out for sure because if you lose once you're going home."
South Range rallied from the early 8-0 deficit and trailed just 24-23 at the half.
Low-scoring third quarter
In the third quarter, the teams combined for just 12 points. The Raiders knotted the contest at 28-all on a free throw by Abby Schuler.
But with just 20 seconds left in the third, Jones canned a 3-pointer from the top of the key -- one of three triples on the night -- to put Brookfield ahead 31-28 heading into the final quarter.
The Warriors led by four (35-31) with 1:29 left before Danielle Downie hit a 3-pointer to get South Range back within one at 35-34.
After Bonekovic missed a free throw with 20 seconds left, South Range had an opportunity to take the lead. But after calling a timeout, the Raiders were called for traveling with eight seconds left and were forced to foul.