MORAN — Most long-time sports observers will admit there’s no such thing as curses.
Sure, there’s some bad luck from time to time, but more often than not, the team that executes better wins.
That said, they may want to do some checking to make sure the Marmaton Valley High School gymnasium wasn’t built on some ancient burial ground.
For the third straight season, Marmaton Valley’s girls saw their season end in gut-wrenching fashion at home, this time a 36-35 defeat to visiting Olpe in the first round of the Class 1A-I Substate Tournament.
Olpe prevailed, despite leading for all of 5.5 seconds of the contest — the last 5.5 — in a wacky ending tinged with controversy.
The Wildcats led by six, 34-28, after Janae Granere converted a 3-point play with just over a minute left in the game.
But Olpe’s Ava Clark responded promptly with a 3-pointer — the only trey for either team — to slice the lead to 34-31.
The Wildcats missed on a golden opportunity after breaking Olpe’s press on their subsequent possession. Granere, racing upcourt for a likely layup, was whistled for traveling as she put up the shot.
“It was the right call,” Wildcat head coach Becky Carlson admitted afterward. “She just got into too big of a hurry.”
That set the stage for the bewildering finish.
Grace Coughlin hit 1 of 2 free throws for Olpe on the Eagles’ next possession, and Granere followed by hitting 1 of 2 free throws to push the lead back to 35-32 with 23 seconds left.
Olpe’s Kadey Robert was fouled on a layup, and converted the subsequent free throw to tie the score at 35-35 with 12 seconds left.
The Eagles’ pressure defense short-circuited MV’s subsequent possession. The inbound pass to Granere was a bit too far out of reach, allowing the Eagles’ Jenna Smith to step in for the interception.
She lobbed it forward to Robert, who missed the layup, but was awarded two free throws after the Wildcats’ Pauline Thery was whistled for the foul with 5.5 seconds left.
Robert missed the first charity, but hit the second, putting Olpe on top for the first time all night.
The Eagles kept up their pressure defense as Marmaton Valley inbounded the ball, leading to the pivotal call.
