Eads spoils upset bid with buzzer-beater

    The second-seeded Eads girls basketball team avoided an upset Thursday morning in its bid to repeat as Class A state champions by edging No. 7 seed Stratton, 40-39, on a putback basket by Chevaun Glover at the buzzer.

    Down 39-36 with 19 seconds left, Glover scored the last four points for the Eagles (21-3) with two free throws and the buzzer-beater at the tournament in Clune Arena.

    After Glover's free throws, Eads got its chance to take the lead when Stratton turned the ball over on a 10-second backcourt violation.

    "Towards the end we just hustled and tried to force them into a turnover," Eads coach Lane Gooden said. "We got the 10-second call, got the ball and we were just hoping to get a good shot off. Tally (Hansen) had a nice look and Chevaun sealed and put it back in."

    After leading 22-11 at halftime, Stratton (16-8) began to get careless with the basketball, committing 12 of its 20 turnovers in the second half. At the same time, Eads found its offense led by Jordan Barnett, who scored 11 of her 18 points by the half.

    "I was happy with the way the girls battled back after halftime by hustling on defense and knocking down shots, which got us back into
the game," Gooden said.