McWilliams’ free throw lifts South Shelby girls past Palmyra in OT in tournament title tilt

MONROE CITY, Mo. — In last season’s Monroe City Tournament championship game, the South Shelby girls basketball team did not have the opportunity to respond to a buzzer beater at the end of regulation.

This year, the Lady Birds got that chance, and they exacted some revenge in the process thanks in large part to a fortunate bounce and unwavering faith.

In the 2023 title game, Palmyra point guard Clare Williams put a dagger into the Lady Birds’ hearts with a last-second 3-pointer to give the Panthers a 64-61 victory. On Saturday, the Lady Birds overcame Palmyra senior forward Sydney Compton’s game-tying, buzzer-beating layup at the end of regulation to win 58-57 in overtime.

“Last year, they hit that buzzer beater and we didn’t have a chance, but with it being tied, we knew we still had a chance and that we were going to take care of it this time,” South Shelby senior forward Belle Roush said.

After falling behind 57-53 with 1:40 left in overtime, the Lady Birds rallied to tie the game at 57 on a pair of Callie McWilliams free throws with 35 seconds to go. Williams was fouled bringing the ball up the floor five seconds later, resulting in an inbounds play from near halfcourt. Jayda Lanpher stole Compton’s inbounds pass, and Lady Birds coach Luke O’Laughlin called timeout with 23 seconds left.

McWilliams had the ball in her hands at the 3-point line on the right wing with less than five seconds to play. She faked a shot, and as she attempted to drive past Williams, contact with McWilliams’ hip resulted in a foul. With the Lady Birds in the bonus, it meant two free throws for McWilliams with exactly one second on the clock.

“I thought she was going to shoot because there was one second on the clock,” Williams said. “I think I just nicked her hip. I don’t know if it was a foul, but I’ll have to go back and look at the film.”

McWilliams missed the first free throw, leading to a potential game-winning second.

“I had a lot of confidence that she would at least hit one of them,” O’Laughlin said. “Most times she steps up there, she hits them both, so when she missed that first one, I knew that she would step up there and knock the second one down.”

McWilliams made the second, but it was far from a perfect swish. The ball hit both the front and back of the rim, popped up in the air and fell back down through the net to give the Lady Birds a one-point lead.

“I was just praying to God that it was going in,” McWilliams said.

South Shelby junior forward Charlie Roush sent up a quick prayer for McWilliams, too.

“Like, ‘Please go in. Please go in. Let her have this one,’” Charlie Roush said. “Then it went in and I was just so stoked.”

The Lady Birds survived two inbounds chances and a Williams halfcourt heave to win their first Monroe City Tournament since beating Palmyra for the title in 2021.

“I was seeing stars for sure,” McWilliams said. “I was just yelling so loud. I was so happy.”

A stroke of rim luck allowed Compton’s game-tying layup to fall, as well. Compton got the ball at the left wing with five seconds left and the Panthers trailing 51-49. She beat her defender and put the ball up off the backboard. The ball did a full 360 around the rim and, with a combination of gravity and pleading from Compton, trickled through the net right as the fourth quarter buzzer sounded.

“We knew that we had to get something up, so Coach drew up a play, and it was a good play, but the first choice didn’t work,” Compton said. “I got the ball and I was like, ‘Oh crap, I have to do something,’ because I saw the clock. I just went confidently to the basket and put it up. I saw it going around and around, and I was like, ‘Please go in. Please go in. Please go in.’ It felt like an eternity to me. It went in, and it was just so hype.”

Even though the Panthers’ bid for a tournament three-peat came up one point short, Palmyra coach Kelsey Stuart had nothing but positive things to say to her team afterward.

“I told the girls, ‘I’m not mad. You shouldn’t be mad. We were given the three seed and we played above that. We should be really proud of ourselves,’” Stuart said. “You can’t stand there and yell at them, and that’s not me anyway. I just preached to them that it would be worse if it was a blowout. Then you can be upset.”

The Panthers trailed 47-34 until Williams knocked down a 3-pointer with 6:03 left in regulation to set in motion a 17-4 Panthers run to close the quarter.

“The fact that we were down 13, went to overtime and they had to win on a free throw, that’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Stuart said.

Williams also notched her 1,000th career point on a 3-pointer with 6:20 left in the third quarter, fittingly off of an assist from Compton, Williams’ best friend and teammate for the better part of a decade.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Williams said. “It means a lot to me. I knew I was getting close, and seeing the crowd be so excited for me was really awesome.”

O’Laughlin acknowledged the significance of this tournament championship while also emphasizing the fact that the season is less than a month old.

“It’s still December, and we still feel like we have a lot to improve on,” O’Laughlin said. “The main thing I’m seeing right now is resiliency and finding a way to win. That’s a good place to start. Hopefully we can keep it rolling and keep getting better.”

Compton said the Panthers’ tournament performance in which they faced three teams — Paris, Highland and South Shelby — that had lost one combined game prior to this tournament proved they are here to stay.

“We’re not done yet,” Compton said.