Lady Tigers exorcise Lady Demons from Final 4

BIRMINGHAM — The Brilliant Lady Tigers are advancing to the State Championship game tomorrow after defeating the McIntosh Lady Demons 54-51 on Monday, Feb. 24.
The score remained neck-and-neck throughout the game, with McIntosh holding a slight lead for most of the game.
The third quarter is when the battle intensified, with multiple lead changes.
The score was still tied 27-27 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Lady Demons took the lead briefly, before a basket from Brooke O’Mary tied the game again at 29-29.
Karagan Stanford caught the Lady Tigers up again to tie the game 33-33 with just over 4 minutes to go.
Hadlee Sanderson brought up another tie at 35-35.
With just over two minutes remaining, the Lady Demons had scored to go up 37-35.
The Lady Tigers came out of the timeout, and Stanford was able to tie the game once more 39-39.
Sanderson scored two points on a free throw with less than a minute to go, but the Lady Demons were able to score one last time to send the game into overtime at 41-41.
Macy Moore opened with a 3-point shot, but it was answered by two points from McIntosh.
Sanderson scored again to give Brilliant a little more breathing room at 47-45.
With under 2:30 to go, the Lady Demons tied the game again at 47-47.
Sanderson broke the tie again with 2 points.
With 1:34 to go, the Lady Demons called a timeout. After a 49-49 tie, Laine Johnson broke the tie to put the Lady Tigers ahead 51-49.
But with under a minute left, the score was tied again 51-51.
As the seconds ticked down, O’Mary grabbed a rebound and scored to put the Lady Tigers ahead 53-51.
With 12 seconds left, she was fouled and scored an additional point from the free throw.
She missed her second shot, but the ball bounced out of bounds, and it was called against McIntosh.
The Lady Tigers called a timeout and prepared to throw the ball in one last time.
In the final 10 seconds, McIntosh did manage to get the ball back, but the Lady Demons failed to land their only shot.
Sanderson scored 17 points and picked up 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. Moore scored 14 points along with 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal.
O’Mary scored 11 points and grabbed 4 rebounds along with 3 assists and 6 steals. Johnson scored 8 points along with 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal. Stanford scored 4 points along with 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
The Lady Tigers are advancing to the state final with a record of 23-10.
When the game was tied at 39-39, O’Mary took a charge, which helped turn the tide of the game.
“It kind of hurt,” O’Mary said during the press conference after the game. “She came at me. I figured I might as well take it. I’m glad I was able to get down there in time to take it.”
O’Mary also made the critical layup during overtime that gave Brilliant a 53-51 lead.
“I was just happy I made that layup!” she said.
“She puts everything into it,” Head Coach Ryan Sanderson said. “I wish everyone could go watch Brooke O’Mary play basketball. It’s the heart. She leaves it all on the floor. She is a big part of this team.
“We made some plays late,” Sanderson continued. “Our girls came to play today, and they’re going to play for a state championship on Thursday. I couldn’t be more proud.”
“We’ve never played here before,” Moore said. “There’s a lot of emotion. I’m very nervous out there. I know the team’s nervous, but we’re all hard-working and we all worked hard to be here, and I’m proud of all of us.”

School first
The Lady Tigers are the first basketball team from Brilliant to advance to the Final Four in school history.
Brilliant’s girls won the regional final against Marion County the week before, after losing to the Lady Red Raiders five times in a row this season.  
“The Final Four wasn’t even really on our minds, it was really about just winning that game and then after we hit (the final shot) and won, we realized, hey, we are in the Final Four!” Sanderson said. “It was a great team win. Everyone stepped up and did their jobs.”
Sanderson said this victory and this achievement means a lot for the Town of Brilliant and the school.
“It means a lot, because we’ve had so much support,” he said. “Not to say we didn’t get a lot of support before, but making it to the Final Four has brought a lot of people calling the school wanting to donate and help. We had a good crowd at Hanceville, and we’re just getting a lot of people who have been out of the loop getting back into it.
“They’re excited about Brilliant and basketball...so there’s just a lot of excitement here in town and the school.”
“I’m just really happy for Coach Sanderson, his team and their community,” said Marion County Schools Superintendent Patrick Sutton. “Obviously, I feel for Coach Veal and the players from Marion County High School. They played great all year, and I was disappointed on their behalf, but at the same time really excited for Brilliant and for their community.
“This is a tremendous accomplishment for them, and they’ve worked really hard. They’ve persevered through losses to Marion County prior to that. We’re proud of both teams that made it to the regional tournament, which also included Hackleburg’s boys.”
“We are very proud of our girls,” said Brilliant School Principal Dr. Kim Davis. “They have worked hard to get to where they are, and we believe in them!”