Poly Prep 62 Fontbonne 57
It was a standing-room-only gym when the Blue Devils hosted the Bonnies this past Friday evening on Poly Prep’s annual alumni fundraising Oasis Night.
There was no question that this non-league game was going to be a competitive contest as 11-1 Fontbonne squared off against undefeated 12-0 Poly Prep. However, given the apparent even match-up, an unexpected lopsided beginning to the evening’s game came as surprise to the partisan Poly crowd.
Right out of the gate, the Bonnies were unstoppable from the perimeter as Meghan Glynn scored 12 points, igniting her team to a 24-11 lead in the first quarter. Re-grouping in the second quarter, the Blue Devils rallied to narrow the Bonnies’ lead to 30-25 by the end of the half.
Fontbonne finished the third quarter with a slim 34-31 lead as Poly’s high scoring (21 points apiece) duet of Shanniah Wright and Maggie White began to get on track for the second half of the game.
In the fourth quarter, Poly was leading 44-39 until Erin Kennedy and Glynn hit back-to-back three-point shots to regain the lead at 45-44 for Fontbonne at the three-minute mark.
Then, with 9.2 seconds left on the clock, Wright’s free throw made the score 50-47, which forced Fontbonne Coach Steve Oliver to call a timeout, urging his team to set up for a final three-point shot to tie the game.
Katie Marquardt came through and found an open Emily Lind who landed the tying basket to send the game into overtime at 50-50.
With 4.7 seconds left in the first overtime period and down by three points, Marquardt stole Poly’s inbounds pass and made the subsequent three-point shot that would tie the game again at 56-56 to force a second overtime period.
Going into the final period, Poly’s defense stepped up to dominate the boards as Amaari Williams and Wright pulled down rebounds, denying Fontbonne a second chance for possession.
In the end, Poly’s defense made the final difference as the Bonnies were held to just one point in the final overtime period in the Blue Devils’ 62-57 hard fought win.