Highlassies squeak by Temple

In a game that came down to the final second, the McLennan Highlassies defeated the Temple Lady Leopards 70-69 on Wednesday night in Temple.

Temple built an early six-point lead, 10-4 with 15 minutes remaining in the half. McLennan used an 8-0 run to take its first lead, 12-10, with 11:54 to go. The Lady Leopards pulled away, extending the lead to 12, 29-17. The Highlassies rallied to cut the lead to seven at the break, 34-27.

McLennan fought back in the second half, taking the 57-54 lead with five minutes to play. Temple pulled away again, leading 69-63 with just under two minutes to play. The Highlassies cut the lead to one on a pair of Shanice Davis free throws with 12 seconds to go. Temple went to the line with 1.7 seconds to go with a chance to seal the win, but the ball bounced off the iron. McLennan's Ashley Bean pulled down the rebound and was fouled with 0.3 seconds on the clock. Bean drained both of the one-and-one free throws to steal the win.

Bean led the Highlassies with 17 points and Kaylin Roher added 13. Shanice Davis and Rae'Vaughn Barnes scored 12 points each.

McLennan returns to action on Saturday, hosting Ranger. The women's game begins at 2 p.m., followed by the men's game at 4 p.m.

McLennan: Kaylin Roher 4 2-2 13; Justice Crisp 0 1-2 1; Shanice Davis 3 5-6 12; Rae'Vaughn Barnes 5 0-0 12; Re'Elle Miller 0 2-2 2; Ashley Bean 4 7-8 17; Kendra Wynn 1 0-0 2; Kyra Bauer 3 1-2 7; Latifah Rainey 2 0-0 4; Totals: 22 18-22 70.

Temple: Leqeisha Brown 3 0-3 6; Ocleta Young 7 1-2 19; India Connor 6 0-0 13; Aricka Adams 10 0-0 22; Trei Torain 2 1-3 5; Samantha Swarts 2 0-1 4; Totals: 30 2-9 69.

3-pointers: McLennan 8 (Roher 3, Barnes 2, Bean 2, Davis 1), Temple 7 (Young 3, Adams 2, Connor 2); Total fouls: McLennan 16, Temple 19; Halftime score: Temple 34, McLennan 27; Record: McLennan 14-9 (6-2).