BOULDER, Colo.-
Melissa Jones scored 7 of her 27 points in overtime Wednesday night as Legacy upset Regis in a sloppily played Class 5A state semifinal at the Coors Events Center.
Trailing 40-39 with 2:14 to play, Jones hit a 6-foot, fadeaway jumper from the left side to give Legacy (24-3) the lead for good.
Regis (25-2), the No. 1 seed from the Kaye Garms Region, lost for the first time to an in-state opponent this season and dropped its first game after winning 22 straight. The Raiders only other loss came to La Jolla, Calif., on Dec. 12.
Jones, who was 14 of 16 from the free-throw line, also grabbed 16 rebounds and had five steals for Legacy, which will play for its first state title at 8 p.m. Friday night against defending 5A champ Highlands Ranch (24-3).
Freshman Quincy Noonan scored 13 points and had 13 boards for Legacy, a school from Broomfield.
Mindy Nielson, who will play for BYU next year, scored 16 points for Regis.
Legacy, the top seed from the Alice Barron Region, led for most of the game until Regis’ T’Keyah Shealy scored after a steal, tying the game at 38-38 with 7.8 seconds to play in regulation.
Legacy led 15-14 at the intermission.
The Lightning were just 4-of-25 from the field for 16 percent shooting, while Regis was 5-of-21 for 23.8 percent from the floor in the first half.
The game didn’t get much better in the second half because neither team could establish a presence in the post and each took several long-range shots that were off the mark.
The teams combined to miss their first 11 shots in the third quarter before Noonan scored for Legacy with 1:55 left in the period. Legacy managed to outscore Regis 4-2 in the third.
The pace picked up in the fourth quarter when Regis scored 22 points to 19 for Legacy.
Regis shot 32.1 percent from the field, while Legacy was 23.9 percent in the game.
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