Ice in the veins.
Kenadee Winfrey hit a corner three that cut the Hardin-Jefferson lead to one and Zoey McBroom added another three that gave Canyon a two point lead with 1:17 left on the clock and gave Canyon the slight push they needed to claim their first state title since 2017. It also earns Tate Lombard’s first state title at Canyon.
“What a heckuva game,” Canyon head coach Tate Lombard said. “Hardin-Jefferson is unreal talent-wise and the coaching staff did a great job. No lead felt safe. You never felt like you were you out of it. We had a few big plays that put us over the top at the right time. I’m so proud of the kid’s effort and they way they battled back.”
Chloe Callahan, who scored 13 points in the first half and put the cape on for Canyon, earned most valuable player honors.
“Chloe was making some big plays scoring early to keep pace,” Lombard said. “We got down early and they were hitting every shot and I feel like if we’re able to just kind of slow down and work it work it a little bit, we’d get a good shot.”
“I’m really speechless, it was a great game,” Callahan said. “I still don’t feel like it’s real. It was a fun game and it took all of us, it was so much fun.”
Hardin-Jefferson was in front throughout the second half of the game but the Lady Eagles kept within striking distance.
With Canyon taking a 45-41 lead entering the final quarter, Mollie Beavers hit a key three to cut the Canyon lead down to one. Makenna Henry added a long-range basket to give the Lady Hawks a two point advantage with 6:37 left.
Winfrey split a pair of free throws with 6:20 left to cut the Lady Hawk lead down to 47-46 as Taylor Thomas gave Canyon the lead with 5:38 from the charity stripe.
Jackson put the team on her back throughout the game and she did just that with converting a jumper to give Hardin-Jefferson the one point edge in the middle stages of the fourth.
With a Beavers free throw and Beavers layup, Hardin-Jefferson took a 52-48 lead with 1:58 left in the game as Canyon huddled up with Lombard calling timeout.
“I feel like our coaching staff is really solid,” Lombard said. “They don’t get too emotional. Each possession, let’s get the right people on the floor, let’s put us in the right stuff offensively and defensively. It just give you confidence. I feel like your team is confident in you whenever you’re poised and you’re not too high or low, just ready to make the next decision for the team and that was kind of what it took at the end of the game there.”
From a Lady Hawk inbound, Callahan got a key steal to give an extra possession to the Lady Eagles, which saw Winfrey hitting a three from the corner.
Off an inbound, Thomas grabbed another steal to give another possession to the Lady Eagles, which led to McBroom, hitting a three for a 54-52 lead.
“We jumped into a press,” Lombard said. “We knew we couldn’t really press them the whole game. [We] just were opportunistic with our press and we made two big plays off the press to get steals and then they followed up with threes by Winfrey and McBroom and then Thomas hit two big free throws in the stretch to go up four and just have one last stop to make. It was amazing how quickly it turned but we felt like we were never out of it, just had to make a couple of plays.”
Hardin-Jefferson finishes the year at a 29-1 mark, as Hardin-Jefferson are still searching for their first state title since 1989. Duke commit Ashlon Jackson finished with 27 points.
“I feel like this is a learning experience,” Jackson said. “We all thought that we were going to win. They [Canyon] executed. We suddenly didn’t. That’s what we got to do. We got to learn and we will be back here for sure next year with a gold medal.”
