GREELEY — Curt Lewis has, to be kind, lost a few hairs in his day. His Kim girls basketball team wasn’t helping matters late in Friday’s 1A state basketball semifinal against Pawnee at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion.
Miss after miss — six in a row at one point — saw what was a 12-point lead melt to two. But thanks to junior center Haley Sheldon, Lewis still has a few hairs left and the Lady Mustangs still have hope of winning a state title.
Sheldon’s rebound and putback of a Bailey McFerren missed free throw finally gave Kim the breathing room it needed in a 55-49 win over Pawnee. With the win, the Mustangs (24-1) advance to tonight’s title game against top-seeded McClave.
“That was a big one. We missed the free throw. She (Sheldon) always keeps her eye on the ball. That was a big basket for us,” Lewis said. “I was out of timeouts and all my hairs fell out. I was glad to see that one get by us.
“I don’t know how many free throws we missed, but we missed about a boatload of them. We worked on them all year long. I take my hat off to Pawnee. They’re a great club and they fought hard. Our girls stayed pretty calm. They made a run at us and we kept fighting.”
Three minutes into the fourth quarter, Kim took a 47-35 lead — its third 12-point lead of the game. But Adele Cass hit a pair of 3-pointers, two of five she had in the game, during a 14-4 run to bring the Coyotes (19-7) to within 51-49 with 36 seconds remaining. It was the closest Pawnee had been since 2:44 remained in the first half.
Then Kim missed a free throw. Then another, and another, and one more. McFerren made the first of two with 20 seconds left to give the Mustangs a three-point lead. After she missed the second, Sheldon’s putback gave Kim a two-possession lead, just enough to fend off the seventh-seeded Coyotes.
“I’m upset about the loss, but I’m proud of the girls,” Pawnee coach Laura Hodgson said. “They played hard. We could’ve given up when we were down at 12. We came back and got within two. We’re fighters.”
Adelle Cass led Pawnee with 19 points and Janelle Cass added 13.
McClave 42, Stratton 39 •
Jerrica Mallard scored on a layup with 21 seconds left, then added a steal and layup with eight seconds remaining as the top-seeded Cardinals held off a scare from Stratton.
Stratton (20-6), which had trailed by 11, rallied to take a 37-35 lead in the fourth quarter on a Morgan Fox layup, but Mallard’s last-minute heroics kept McClave (25-1) from suffering a second straight semifinal defeat.
Mallard led McClave with 19 points. Fox led all scorers with 22 points, 15 in the second half.
Michael Hicks, Special to The Post
