Sparkman girls best Bob Jones in OT thriller

MADISON — The Sparkman girls basketball team was able to take down Bob Jones 49-45 in an overtime epic on Friday.

The Bob Jones gym rattled with a frenzy of energy.

The Sparkman girls were facing the Lady Patriots on a rainy night in December and the Lady Senators had led for pretty much the entire game.

Bob Jones had been chasing Sparkman, trying to reel them in.

Leading that charge was the relentless Lady Patriot senior Alana Obianozie with her aggressiveness in the paint and her sweet shooting touch.

Obinanozie had pulled Bob Jones to a four-point defect at 34-30 early in the fourth quarter and there was a change in the building.

Through the loud stomping of the cheerleaders and the screams of the passionate fans, this game had turned into a sprint to the finish.

Obinanozie continued to put her stamp on this game and help will her team to the comeback with a layup to tie the contest at 39-39 with 2:37 to play.

Every play mattered so much down the stretch as the schools battled for opportunities to score.

Obinanozie’s final two points, in a game that saw her collect at team-high 14, gave Bob Jones its first lead of the affair at 41-40 with just 38 seconds remaining.

A free throw by Lady Patriot senior Jordyn Fields provided Bob Jones with the narrow 42-40 advantage with 11.3 to go as Sparkman had to foul three times to even send someone to the line for a shot.

Sparkman head coach Jarvis Wilson roared timeout as his Lady Senators took possession with mere seconds remaining.

The crowd had ratcheted the volume level up even higher as Sparkman’s senior point guard Jamya Griffin dribbled the ball at the top of the key searching for a sliver of daylight to cut into the Bob Jones defense.

Time was running out as Griffin charged into the paint and put up a shot that rattled off the rim and fell downward.

The home fans had a split second of glee at the missed shot before it was rebounded by Lady Senator Elise McClain who grabbed the rock and banked it in from point-blank as the buzzer sounded.

Chaos ensued as the teams looked at the officials to determine if the shot by McClain should even count.

The scoreboard over the top of the court glowed a dramatic 42-42 with triple zeros in the time slot.

After a short bit of confusion, the stripes announced that this game was going into overtime as McClain received a celebratory beating from her ecstatic teammates.

For a complete breakdown of the Sparkman girls’ dramatic battle against Bob Jones in overtime, be sure to pick up a copy of the Madison Record on Wednesday, December 6.