The Notre Dame Lady Pios didn’t exactly shoot lights out from the free throw line Tuesday in their District 6-2A opener at Kinder.
In fact, they hit just 17 of their 32 free throw attempts on the night.
But the Lady Pios made their free throws when they needed them most and that proved to be the determining factor.
Taylor Faul hit one of two free throws with 18 seconds left to tie the game at 53-53 and then added another freebie with eight ticks left to lift the Lady Pios to a nail-biting 54-53 victory over the Lady Yellow Jackets.
“You know, if we shoot 60 percent from the free throw line, this game isn’t even close,” said ND coach Nolan Theriot, whose team improved to 15-6 overall and 1-0 in league play. “But we were able to knock down a few there at the end and that was big.
“Overall, I thought we played pretty well and the big thing was that we showed a lot of poise. With the game on the line, we never panicked and we showed a lot of focus.”
The game was nip and tuck pretty much the entire night with the Lady Pios leading by a slim margin after each of the first three quarters.
Kinder rallied in the fourth and took a 52-50 advantage with just under a minute to go on a Sarah Estes 3-pointer off the glass.
After Notre Dame tied the game at 53-53, Alyssa Williams came through with a blocked shot on the other end, setting up Faul’s eventual game-winning free throw.
Williams and Melise Gossen paced the Lady Pios with 23 and 11 points respectively. Sydnei Simon also hit double figures with 10 points.
Faul followed with six points, Abbey Higginbotham added three and Gracie Boudreaux had one.
In the nightcap, the Pios had a bit of an easier time as they disposed of the Yellow Jackets, 51-33.
The Pios (9-5, 1-0) got a big game from John William Lamm, who posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
J.T. Swacker added 12 points and Bailey Leleux had 10 points to go along with six assists and four steals. Kaizer Lamm tallied six points and pulled down eight rebounds and Zack Satchell had four points. Anders Fontenot and Nolan Olinger rounded out the Pios’ scoring with three points apiece.