In a game that came down to the final buzzer, the third-ranked McLennan women fell to the Grayson Vikings 60-56 in Sherman.
Grayson opened the game on an 11-2 run capped by an Aniyah Sanford 3-pointer from the wing with 5:30 to go in the first quarter. McLennan's Alaina Payne drained a 3-pointer from the side with 4:40 adding to Aysia Ward's previous bucket to cut the Grayson lead to six, 11-5. A pair of Kayla Jones free throws with 1:28 to play would be the only points scored down the stretch, and the Vikings led 13-5 after the first.
The Vikings Charlotte Carvalho added a 3-pointer to push the lead to 11 early in the second before McLennan put together a 6-0 run to cut the lead to five, 16-11. Grayson pulled away once again and led by 17 at the half, 32-15.
It looked like Grayson would runaway with the game as it pushed the lead to 21, 48-27, with two minutes to play in the third quarter. But McLennan wasn't backing down and ended the frame on a 15-0 run highlighted by back-to-back 3-pointers by Mersadez Nephew and Jalayah Ingram. Ingram ended the run with three free throws to end the quarter, cutting the Grayson lead to six, 48-42.
Grayson extended the lead back to 10 early in the fourth but McLennan continued to fight. A 9-0 run cut the Grayson lead one, 54-53 with 2:34 to play, and a Nephew nothing-but-net 3-pointer from the wing gave McLennan its first lead at 56-54 with 1:54 to go. Grayson tied the game at 56 with a pair of Carvalho free throws and took the lead on a Sanford bucket with just under a minute to play, 58-56. Jones hit two free throws with 0.3 seconds remaining to seal the win.
Alaina Payne led McLennan with 19 points, and Jalayah Ingram scored 12.
McLennan: Aysia Ward 2 0-0 4; Alaina Payne 6 5-6 19; Mersadez Nephew 3 0-0 9; Jalayah Ingram 4 3-3 12; Peyton Hearvey 1 1-1 3; Niyah Johnson 0 0-2 0; Aniya Williams 2 3-5 7; Kalisha Phillips 2 3-5 7; Totals: 18 14-21 56.
Grayson: Damia Freeman 2 0-0 4; Jaeden Gillam 0 0-0 0; Aniyah Sanford 6 0-0 15; Shakirat Abdulazeez 2 2-4 6; Abby Priscilla 3 3-4 10; Amelie Kehrenberg 0 0-0 0; Samantha Fields 1 0-0 3; Charlotte Carvalho 3 1-2 8; Kayla Jones 4 4-4 13; Totals: 21 10-14 60.
First Quarter score: Grayson 13, McLennan 5 ; Halftime score: Grayson 32, McLennan 15; Third Quarter score: Grayson 48, McLennan 42; 3-pointers: McLennan 6 (Nephew 3, Payne 2, Ingram 1), Grayson 7 (Sanford 3, Priscilla 1, Fields 1, Carvalho 1, Jones 1); Total fouls: McLennan 17, Grayson 20; aFouled out: Williams (McLennan); Record: McLennan 15-5 (4-2).
