Junior Lauren Dunn’s tip in at the buzzer sends the girls’ basketball team to its fourth straight win.
It was Whitman-Hanson’s ball with nine seconds to go and the score tied at 43.
Junior Lauren Dunn knew just what she had to do.
“I was in the corner ready to crash,” she said.
And she came through. After Reese Cordero’s 3-pointer was off the mark, Dunn was there for the putback at the buzzer to lift W-H (5-2) over previously-unbeaten Plymouth North (6-1) and to its fourth straight win, 45-43, the final.
.@WHathletics wins it on a buzzer beating putback by Dunn, 45-43, the final. pic.twitter.com/EZeOgoDCne
— Nate Rollins (@n_rollins1) February 3, 2021
“Coach (Mike Costa) had the play all drawn up for Reese and it all just happened so fast,” Dunn said. “Reese shot it and I just had to go get it.”
“You always say when the shot goes up, a lot of people just watch the ball, especially at the end of the game,” said head coach Mike Costa. “But she snuck in there and was able to put one home.”
Not only was able able to put one home, but with 33 seconds remaining she threw the ball of a Plymouth North defender as she was falling out of bounds to give the Panthers new life.
“We wanted it bad,” Dunn said.
The Panthers trailed by as much as seven, 36-29, in the fourth quarter until junior Abigail Martin (14 points, seven rebounds) got going. Martin, who sat out most of the third quarter due to foul trouble, scored six points in the final frame, including a layup to put W-H up 43-41 before the Blue Eagles tied it at 43.
“She just brings a toughness that not many people in this league have,” Costa said of Martin. “She battles, she rebounds and she does the dirty work.”
W-H looks to keep its winning streak alive Friday at 6:30 p.m. when it hosts Marshfield.
“We’re just taking it one game at a time,” Costa said. “We’re just focused on us and not anybody else and we’re just letting the chips fall where they may.”