Its once comfortable lead was slipping away and Hinton needed someone to make a play.
Enter Sydney Doeschot, who blocked a 3-point shot just before the buzzer to preserve a 48-46 victory over Central Lyon that gave the Blackhawks the Class 2A state championship.
The title capped an unbeaten season for Hinton and gave the school its first title in girls basketball after a runner-up finish in its only previous appearance in a championship game.
Hinton (26-0) seemed to be in control of this matchup between teams located just an hour apart in northwest Iowa when it started the third quarter with a 19-5 run to erase a three-point halftime deficit and go up 38-27.
The Lions (21-5) then began to chip away behind senior center Aubrey Metzger, who scored 11 of her team’s last 19 points, the final one coming on a free throw to slice the lead to 48-46 with 15.4 seconds to play.
The Lions (21-5) got the ball back after Hinton’s Addison Glass missed two free throws with 12.3 seconds left and, following a timeout, inbounded under its own basket with 3.2 seconds remaining.
The ball went to Ayda Vander Zee on the perimeter slightly left of the key. She appeared to have an open shot until Doeschot raced up and knocked the ball toward the other end. Time ran out as the players scrambled for the ball and Hinton had its title.
Doeschot led Hinton with 16 points and was named captain of the all-tournament team. She also had six assists, two rebounds, two steals and that big block at the end.
Glass went 3-for-4 from 3-point range and finished with 14 points, plus five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals. Hinton blocked eight shots in all and came up with 12 steals while forcing 19 turnovers, enabling the Blackhawks to overcome their own 23 turnovers.
Addy Pigott scored seven points for Hinton, while Karlyn Kovarna had a solid line with five points, 10 rebounds, three steals, two blocks and an assist.
Metzger led Central Lyon, which also lost to Hinton during the regular season, with 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds. Six of those rebounds came on the offensive end and she turned two of them into baskets during her team’s late run.
Alexis Austin added 12 points for the Lions, who won the Class 1A title in 2013, and Danika Hoogendoorn contributed nine points, five assists and five steals.
Also on the all-tournament team were Kovarna, Hoogendoorn, Molly Shafer of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont and Addie McLaughlin of Iowa City Regina Catholic.
Hinton’s previous trip to the championship game ended with a 62-56 loss in the Class 1A finals to a Rock Valley team led by IGHSAU Hall of Famer Deb Remmerde.
