KFDM COOP Posted February 25, 2006 Report Posted February 25, 2006 [email protected] HOUSTON - All Chelsea Pickering and the Lumberton girls basketball team needed was a second chance. And they got it. With 12 seconds remaining in a Class 4A regional semifinal contest at Coleman Coliseum and Lumberton trailing Dickinson by one point, Pickering stepped to the free throw stripe and watched both of her shots sail through the net to give the Raiders the lead and an eventual 52-49 win. The No. 5-ranked Raiders saw their season flash in front of their eyes after Pickering came up with a rare miss at the free throw line with 27 seconds left. On the ensuing play Dickinson post player Krystal Jefferson put in a lay up to give the Gators a 49-48 advantage with 17 seconds on the clock, but Pickering's moment of redemption at the free throw stripe five seconds later would be enough to lift Lumberton (24-5) to the win. The Raiders, who were competing in their first ever regional semifinal game, will play Friendswood, a 69-63 winner over Nacogdoches, at 4 p.m. today for the right to play in the 4A state tournament. "It's just one of those things where we made some critical free throws at the end, and that's the key," Lumberton coach Charlie Wilson said. "You don't give up because you don't know what's fixing to happen, but (Pickering) came back down and got another chance and she sank them both. That's a big key, and it's the never-say-die attitude. They just worked hard at it and stayed with it and stayed after it." Lumberton held a 34-33 advantage heading into the final quarter, and the Raiders didn't relinquish the lead until Jefferson's layup late in the period. At that point, Dickinson held its only lead of the game. Following Pickering's made free throws, the Gators turned the ball over and Lumberton guard Kristin Riley sank two more free throws in the waning seconds for the Raiders. Lumberton was led in scoring by junior post player Courtney Wilson's 21 points, and Pickering added 17, with 15 of hers coming in the first half. The Gators, who finish the season 26-10, were led by Jefferson's 16 points, 13 points from forward Brianna Hypolite and guard Morgan Williams' 11 points. "Now it's big for (the team) to realize - you know when you first get started all everybody talks about is the state tournament - well now you're within one game and finally reality can sink in," Wilson said. "If we play hard we could do this. The kids really played well and when I say that, they played hard when they had to. We made some key plays, we made some key buckets. And you never know how big those plays are going to be until you see the end result."
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