Eau Claire’s Eboni Ross looks to score against Southside. Photos by Paulene Cruse For most of the first half in Saturday’s Upper State match up between the Eau Claire Lady Shamrocks and the Southside Lady Tigers, Southside dominated, leading by as much as 19 at one point in the second quarter. However, beginning late in the second quarter, Eau Claire put together a comeback that nearly saw them bring home the Upper State Championship. It was Eau Claire’s inability to capitalize on opportunities from the free throw line late and Southside’s ability to make the free throws that allowed Southside to escape with a 52–49 win.

Eboni Ross led Eau Claire with 21 points, and Janoe Stevenson chipped in 16 to help mount the comeback for the Shamrocks.

Early on, the game was tight between the two teams. Southside took a 2–0 lead by way of a pair of free throws from Jasmine Franklin, but two buckets from Ross gave Eau Claire a 4–2 lead. A three pointer from Yoko Mosley gave Southside a lead that they would hold until the fourth quarter. The three–pointer was the start of a 17–2 run that included 14 straight points for the Lady Tigers and gave them a 22–6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Eau Claire’s Brandi Guinyard goes for the layup against Southside. The Lady Tigers spent most of the second quarter building on that lead. Early on, Eau Claire and Southside traded scoring opportunities. Ross’s bucket made the score 22–8. Chelsea Walker answered with a pair of free throws. Stevenson tried to make a dent on the deficit with a bucket to make the score 24–10. A free throw from McKenzie Weston pushed the lead back to 15. Stevenson responded with a bucket to cut the deficit to 25–12. However, Southside scored the next six points to extend the lead to 19 at 31–12. That was the point in which Ross took the deficit into her hands. She scored six straight points to cut the Southside lead to 31–18 at halftime.

The Lady Shanrocks kept the momentum going into the third quarter. After a bucket from Mosley pushed the lead to 33–18, Ross made a bucket plus a foul shot to cut the deficit to 33–21.

The margin remained at 12 for a few possessions as the teams traded shots. However, a basket by Stevenson helped Eau Claire gain more ground on the Southside lead. That basket was followed by one from Brandi Guinyard and one from Ross to bring the deficit to single digits. The quarter ended with Southside and Eau Claire trading baskets to maintain the single digit deficit for Eau Claire, 39–31, heading into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Shamrocks kept coming at the Lady Tigers in the fourth quarter. A basket from Guinyard and two from Stevenson helped Eau Claire open the quarter with six straight points to trim the deficit to 39–37.

The deficit remained at two until the 5:09 mark when a bucket from Ross tied the game at 50. A free throw from Nikki Young regained the lead for Southside, but a bucket from Amelia Carrie gave Eau Claire its first lead since the first quarter, 43–42. The lead traded hands between the two teams for the next three possessions until Southside regained control following two free throws from Chelsea Walker.

Late in the game, the lead extended to three with a pair of free throws from Walker giving Southside a 51–48 lead. The Lady Shamrocks had an opportunity to regain the lead as Stevenson had two trips to the free throw line but was only able to make 1 out of 4 shots to make the score 51–49.

A free throw from Young extended the lead back to three as Eau Claire had one last opportunity to tie the game. Carrie had an opportunity to tie the game with a good look from behind the arc but came up just short as time expired giving Southside the 52–49 win.