Waukon girls basketball team advances on last-second win, 60-59, at #8 Crestwood but has State return denied in second half by #10 Assumption
Something to celebrate ... Members of the Waukon girls basketball team celebrate around junior Annika Headington after her game-winning shot at the buzzer while the reaction from the Crestwood fans in the photo background and the two-point signal from the referee’s arm entering the photo at far left help further tell the tale of the thrilling end to the Lady Indians’ 60-59 upset victory at eighth-rated Crestwood Wednesday, February 19 in the semifinal round of Class 3A regional tournament play. With just seven seconds left on the clock after a Cadet basket gave them a 59-58 lead, Headington took an inbounds pass from fellow junior Margaret Wacker and blazed her way up the floor, weaving through the Crestwood defense to throw up a shot near the free throw line that sank straight through the heart of the basket as the final buzzer sounded and also sank the Cadets’ hopes of a fourth straight trip to the State Tournament. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this website.
The 2019-2020 season for the Waukon girls basketball team was finally brought to a close this past week, but not before a thrilling ride that took the Lady Indians to the brink of a return trip to every team’s ultimate destination. That biggest thrill came in the form of a 60-59 triumph on a last-second shot that helped the Tribe upset its as-of-late biggest rival, eighth-rated Crestwood, in a Wednesday, February 19 Class 3A regional semifinal battle for the ages at Cresco. That win took the Lady Indians to the brink of a return trip to the State Tournament, but another familiar foe at that point, Davenport Assumption, dashed those season grand finale hopes the Tribe had built in the first half, pulling away from a halftime Indian lead to end the Tribe’s season with a 55-42 defeat Saturday, February 22 in a regional finals battle played at Dyersville Beckman.
This past week’s rollercoaster brought the Indians’ season to a close with a 15-9 overall record that included a 7-5 mark that placed the Lady Indians third in the final Northeast Iowa Conference standings. Assumption’s regional finals defeat of the Tribe advanced the Knights to the Class 3A State Tournament for the third time in the past four seasons - the Indians providing the only non-qualifying bump in that road last year. The 16-7 Knights are now matched up with second-rated Clear Lake (22-2) in a Monday, March 2 first-round match-up at the Class 3A season grand finale.
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