Mike McGraw
Hoosier Authority
If I told
you Taylor’s Shelby Wall scored 28 points in the Titans first round 61-57
victory over Lebanon at the Twin Lakes Invitational, you would think she had a
good game. What if I told you she scored 23 of those in SIX AND A HALF MINUTES!
Wall exploded and Taylor came roaring back from extinction with a fourth
quarter rally for the ages.
Lebanon
dominated play in this game from the opening whistle. The Tigers did a
wonderful job of preventing Wall from shooting the ball and the rest of the
Titans were ice cold from the field. Lebanon cruised to a 12-7 lead after one
quarter and expanded that to 25-18 at halftime. When the Tigers opened the
third quarter with a 13-5 run, the upset looked likely. Eventually, the lead
stretched to 43-23 and that upset looked certain.
It was at
that point, with 1:30 left in the third quarter, that Wall went to the charity
stripe and dropped two free throws. They were the first points the Indiana
All-Star candidate had scored since completing a three point play on the game’s
opening possession. It seemed innocent enough, but it wasn’t. Wall scored five
more points in the remaining ninety seconds and at the end of three periods
Lebanon led 47-30.
Wall quickly
scored to start the fourth stanza. Taylor scored again. Then Wall canned a long
three-pointer, then another, and then free throws, the avalanche had begun.
Taylor went on a 15-0 run to start the quarter and it was suddenly 49-45 and
there were still more than four minutes remaining.
Lebanon
tried to stop the bleeding. The Tigers scored on two consecutive trips to
stretch the lead back to 52-45. It was of no consequence. By this point, Wall
smelled blood in the water and the rest of the Titans were circling. She hit a
trey to cut the lead back to four, another two possessions later to cut the
margin to 55-52, and another on the next trip to tie the contest at 55. There
were still nearly three minutes to play. Wall had scored 23 points in a 32-8
Taylor run. Defense and strong free throw shooting down the stretch did the rest
for the Titans.
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