The Beresford Watchdogs girls basketball team needed overtime, but they got a 58-57 road win at the Parker Pheasants on Friday, December 30th.
The Watchdogs built a 14-point lead early in the second quarter and led by 13 points, 32-19 at halftime. Parker started chipping away at that lead right away in the third quarter. The Pheasants started the second half on a 7-0 run to make the score 32-26. Beresford responded with a 7-2 run to push the lead back to 39-28 with 3:30 left in the third. Parker cut the lead down to three points, 42-39, by the end of the quarter.
The Watchdogs got the lead back to seven, 46-39, with a 4-0 run in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter. Beresford was clinging to a one-point lead, 49-48, late in the game. Ella Merriman made two free-throws with seven seconds left, but Parker hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game 51-51 and send it to overtime. The Pheasants took their first lead, 54-53, after another made three-pointer with 3:15 left in overtime. Merriman responded with a three-point basket of her own and gave Beresford a 56-54 advantage. Savanna Beesen made the score 58-55 with 2:00 left to play. Parker pulled within a point 58-57 with 1:20 to play. The Pheasants missed two free-throws in that time as well as a last-second shot from the free-throw line.
The Watchdogs shot 40% (20-50) from the field, 35% (6-17) from three-point area, and 63% (12-19) from the field. Parker was 48% (19-40) overall, 42% (5-12) from three-point area, and 61% (14-23) from the free-throw line. Beresford held a 28-20 rebounding advantage.
Merriman nearly had a triple-double finishing with 19 points, 10 steals, and eight rebounds. Harley Koth had 13 points and seven rebounds. Beesen added 11 points, four steals, and three rebounds. Macy Quartier had six points, and Kendra Ellis had five points and four rebounds.
