Thomas: ‘The ball didn’t bounce our way’

HANCEVILLE — Phil Campbell was eager to get to its locker room and away from the court.

It was quieter there — a place the Bobcats could share some final words, exchange some hugs and shed a few more tears. Some had already trickled out. Others simply looked stunned.

In the span of an hour and a half, Phil Campbell’s season was over. The ending punctuated by four made free throws, a 3-point attempt that hit off the backboard, and a potentially gametying shot that never got off before the final buzzer.

Holly Pond was the team that walked away from the Class 3A Northwest Regional semifinal with a 40-37 victory.

“This team played their guts out,” Bobcats coach Craig Thomas said. “… The ball just didn’t bounce our way. It’s basketball. Leela (Baker) has a saying where losing isn’t fun.”

It never is, especially this way.

The tournament game marked the eighth time Phil Campbell had a game decided by three or fewer points. The Bobcats were 5-2 in their previous seven.

The final 42 seconds prevented a sixth tally from being added to that win column.

In part, courtesy of Madison Butts.

The sophomore hit a pair of free throws to give Holly Pond a 38-37 lead with 41.5 seconds left on the clock, and then made two more less than 30 sec- onds later that left Phil Campbell scrambling a little.

The Bobcats had a chance to tie the game with 10 seconds left, only to have Macy Hardy’s threepointer hit wide right of the net. And when Phil Campbell retained possession after it was knocked out of bounds, Layla Baker was unable to get a clean look from the corner closest to its bench. That was it.

“We had a great season,” Hardy said. “We have four seniors, so it stinks having to leave the underclassmen behind. But it was a great experience this year. It was the first time we made it to Wallace in four years.”

Hardy was one of those four seniors.

Leela Baker led the Bobcats (23-12) with 20 points. Macy Hardy, who reached the 1,500-career point mark in their subregional, had seven.

In the end, losing isn’t fun. Sometimes, though, that’s just basketball.

“I’ve really enjoyed my experience of playing basketball with Macy. Her, Kaylie (Motes), Mia (Ambrosio), Sidalee (Rogers),” Leela Baker said. “Losing them is going to be hard, but we just have to push for our young team coming up.