'Game of the year': Monterey girls fight off Amarillo High in 5 OT to advance to region tournament
LITTLEFIELD — Jill Schneider asked for a good game Tuesday, but she couldn't have imagined what the night would entail.
"It's funny, because before the game I had this little conversation with God," the Monterey girls basketball coach said. "'Just let this be a great game for these players and these coaches and all these fans that are showing up.' I just wanted it, in my heart, to be a great game.
"So about the middle of the fifth overtime, I was going, 'OK, are you playing a joke on me here?'"
The top-10 showdown against Amarillo High was expected to be full of fireworks. A rematch of state contenders brimming with college-level talent, the standing-room only crowd at Wildcat Gymnasium indicated as much.
What those in attendance got was a pyrotechnics display unlike any they may ever witness again.
It took an extra 20 minutes to decide, but top-ranked Monterey outlasted No. 7 Amarillo 86-78 in quintuple overtime to secure a return trip to the Region I-5A tournament. The Lady Plainsmen trailed by 13 late in the third quarter before mounting a comeback.
Sophomore standout Aaliyah Chavez, who tied the game on a physical layup in the final seconds of regulation, put the finishing touches on the victory with a steal and layup in the fifth extra session.
Never before had Chavez played that deep into a contest.
"I'm gonna say that's a first," she said. "That's definitely the first, and it was amazing. I would not have it any other way than playing Amarillo."
There was a shared feeling of the rarity and thrilling nature of the Region I-5A quarterfinal. But in one locker room, it was coupled with a sense of finality. Even with two rounds to go, the matchup felt like a state-tournament decider.
"How can you top that? Other than, from our perspective, find a way to win," Lady Sandies coach Jeff Williams said. "Take your hats off to (Monterey). I know that that probably helps them propel to win a state championship, in my opinion. A game like that can only do one thing, and that's help you.
"It was the game of the year, and we came out on the short end."
Amarillo (32-5), which used a 15-0 run in the third quarter to build a 37-24 lead, twice staved off elimination in the most dramatic of fashions. In consecutive overtimes, the Lady Sandies drained game-tying 3-pointers just before the buzzer. That included McKenzie Smith's banked-in heave from the top of the key to force a fifth extra-frame. She finished with a game-high 32 points.
Texas Tech signee Kelly Mora scored four of her 22 points in the fifth overtime, both on assists by reserve Heaven Limon. Mora also hauled in 22 rebounds. Her final points came during an 8-0 run that put Monterey up 82-75 with 59 seconds remaining.
Chavez and Ambrosia Cole each matched Mora's 22 points. Chavez did most of her damage after a four-point first half, despite turning her ankle 25 seconds before intermission. She said she felt fine after having the hurt foot taped.
With Chavez's self-admitted "sluggish" start, Cole's presence was all the more important. The Lady Plainsmen (31-3) worked out of a collective slump to net 21 points during their comeback fourth quarter.
"(Our depth) makes us very dangerous," Cole said. "Sometimes we knock down our shots and we just keep the game going, even if Aaliyah has a slow start, which is rarely going to happen."
Monterey's reward for knocking off the reigning region champions? No. 2 Mansfield Timberview.
Welcome to life in Region I.
"If anything, this game prepares you for a regional tournament," Schneider said. "We haven't played a close game in a long time, except for the (Lubbock-)Cooper game that we played (Dec. 16) when we didn't have Aaliyah. So it was great to see our kids battling. It was great to see our bench have to come through …
"I look at this type of game as preparation for what we're going to see."
Region I-5A quarterfinal
Monterey 86, Amarillo High 78 (5 OT)
Monterey 13 9 7 21 2 4 7 11 12 — 86
Amarillo 8 10 21 11 2 4 7 11 4 — 78
Monterey (31-3) — Aaliyah Chavez 22, Heaven Limon 4, Ambrosia Cole 22, Jaelyn Morrison 3, Ari Johnson 13, Kelly Mora 22.
Amarillo High (32-5) — Jada Graves 14, Payton Daniels 7, Taytum Bell 12, Lacey Rice 8, Victoria Barrera 5, McKenzie Smith 32.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock Monterey girls basketball beats Amarillo High in 5 OT
