They battled, they clawed and they cried.
But, most importantly for the Cave Spring Knights girls basketball team, they won this time around.
Executing in timely fashion, the Lady Knights pulled out the 75-68 win over Southwest County rival Hidden Valley in double overtime Thursday night in the Cave Spring gym.
It was a mob scene when the final horn sounded as the Cave Spring student body flooded the court to celebrate and head coach Jessica Ficarro simply fielded hugs from everyone in sight as tears poured from her eyes.
“It was definitely the most exciting high school game I’ve ever been part of,” Ficarro said outside the Knight locker room afterward. “Our players showed up for the the biggest game of their careers.”
It was Ficarro’s first win over Hidden Valley in her nine seasons at Cave Spring, somewhat fitting considering the current campaign has been the Knights’ first winning season since her first team went 12-10.
There was also plenty of discussion afterward if the win was the first win ever over the Titan girls since Hidden Valley was formed in 2002. While some said ‘yes’, and one long-time Cave Spring assistant said the Lady Knights had actually defeated Hidden Valley in the first year of the school split, everyone was unanimous on one thing. It had been a long, long time.
Irregardless, this one played out on the perfect stage as the opening act of the traditional girls-boys varsity doubleheader between the rivals. The gym was packed and the contest was broadcast live on FOX radio.
Both teams performed like it was Broadway.
Cave Spring made the first statement of the game when it broke away from a 9-9 tie in the first quarter to score seven straight for a 16-9 lead after one quarter.
Hidden Valley came right back with a 17-2 run to start the second frame and took a 28-21 lead to the halftime break.
The Lady Knights came out of the locker room and dominated the third quarter 16-5, and headed to the final 8 minutes up 37-33.
Titan junior Hailey Singleton gave Hidden Valley the lead 40-39 with a put back at the 4:50 mark, but a baseline runner by Knights’ freshman Reagan Delp and an old-fashion 3-point play by senior Hailey Sitze had Cave Spring ahead 44-40 with 3:45 to play. Hidden Valley tied things at 46 on Singleton’s two free throws and the teams traded baskets down the stretch to send the game to overtime.
The first OT saw Cave Spring take the lead five times and Hidden Valley answer each time to keep things knotted at 58. It looked like the Titans would keep their streak alive when Singleton hit a pair of free throws with 9.8 seconds left, putting Hidden Valley up 60-58. Cave Spring rushed the ball the length of the court where the ball came free in the paint between senior Cassi Parulis and junior Cait Flippen. Parulis gathered the loose ball and kissed the tying shot off the glass to beat the buzzer.
“i felt like there was absolutely no time left when the ball went through the net,” Ficarro said. “Stuff you dream of.”
“I just wanted it,” Parulis, who had a game-high 25 points, said of her key shot. “There was so much riding on this game.”
Hidden Valley sophomore Senia Garay, who had a team-high 16 points, put the Titans ahead off the second overtime jump ball 62-60, but Sitze answered with a score and hit one-of-two from the line on the next possession before Parulis scored twice in the paint for a 67-62 Cave Spring lead.
Titan soph Drew Freeland kept things interesting by hitting a 3-pointer to cut the Titan deficit to 67-65, and later connected from behind-the-arc with :46.2 left to again get Hidden Valley to within one possession at 71-68.
But, Sitze closed the deal for the Knights with three free throws and Delp added another with :13.7 left that set the stage for the bleacher-clearing celebration.
“I wanted to step up for my team,” Sitze noted of her clutch play down the stretch. “Heading into the playoffs this is a big confidence booster.” Sitze finished with 18 points, while Delp added 22 and Flippen 10 points for the Knights.
On the Hidden Valley side, in addition to Garay’s 16, Freeland netted 14, Singleton 13, while senior Kerry Dooley poured in 11 and freshman Jordyn Sadler hit for 10 Titan points.
“It was a great game and a fun game to coach,”Hidden Valley head coach Randy Bush noted. “We answered every run, but Cave Spring deserved to win.”
Bill Turner
