Haylee Taylor hit a 3 pointer with 36 seconds left to break a tie at 44 and start a game ending 8-0 run that gave the Lady Bearcats a 52-44 win over Paris Tuesday night at Bearcat Gymnasium.
When Paris was unable to answer the Taylor 3 and was forced to foul, it was Taylor who hit one of two free throws with 19.8 seconds to play to make it a two-possession game at 48-44.
Anna Ferguson twice hit one of two and with 11.1 seconds to play it was 50-44.
Taylor put the exclamation point on the third Lady Bearcat conference win with a steal and layup at the buzzer. That gave Taylor a team-high 15 points.
Before the deciding run it was a Raelynn Franklin free throw just 13.5 seconds before halftime that probably did not seem like it was making much of a dent as it sliced a Lady Bearcat deficit of nine points to just eight at 30-22.
However, it would serve as the impetus of what would be a 13-0 run as the Lady Bearcats took a lead for the first time since the first quarter.
It was a Taylor 3 that gave the Lady Bearcats the lead at 32-30 and a pair of Ferguson free throws made it 34-30 before Paris rallied to go back in front for the second of four lead changes in the third quarter.
Paris led 39-36 with 6:33 to play but a Taylor free throw and a basket by Ferguson tied it. Makinley Ensey then gave the Lady Bearcats the lead with her fourth 3 and when she scored again it was 44-39.
Paris scored the next 5 points to tie it with 52 seconds to go.
The 5 fourth quarter points gave Ensey 14 for the night – she scored the first 9 points of the night for her team – to go with 7 rebounds.
Ferguson finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds, 6 of which were in the second half.
Paris 59 Bearcats 38
There were four lead changes in the first three minutes of the game but Paris was able to open an 8-point lead over the next 5 minutes.
Reed Brackney twice cut the lead to 8 in the second quarter but once the Eagles extended it to double digits it would remain there the rest of the night.
Along with Tayden Washburn, Brackney would co-lead the Bearcats with 12 points. Nick Widener hit a pair of third quarter 3s to keep the Bearcat hopes flickering and ended with 8 points.
Both teams will be on the road Thursday for makeup games against Cossatot River. The girls game will tip off at 5 p.m.
TAYLOR CLUTCH FOR LADY BEARCATS IN WIN OVER PARIS
