By BO ALLEGRUCCI
Salina Journal
Since its invention more than a century ago, the game of basketball has always been played with five players on each team.
Saturday at Banes Gymnasium on the St. John's Military campus, the Brown Mackie women started the game with five healthy players, played most of the second half with only four, finished the afternoon with just three and utterly embarrassed Lamar Community College of Colorado 78-58.
Maybe BMC coach Keith Ferguson should scale back his recruiting from now on, or perhaps write a book about the 2-2 zone defense. Or maybe he'd rather pretend it never happened.
"I've never seen anything like this, and I don't ever want to see it again," Ferguson said. "I told the girls afterwards they played an unbelievable game, but I said 'Don't ever do this to me again.' I want to have 30 players on our team next year."
Forward Whitney Holm and guard Robbin Webber scored 17 of the first 19 Brown Mackie points as the Lions built a nine-point lead midway through the first half. Holm scored 18 of her 26 in the first half, and Lamar helped out with eight turnovers in the game's first 10 minutes.
Then fatigue became a factor. Lamar drilled 3-pointers on four consecutive trips against the Lions' 2-3 zone, and a Kathryn Clouser put-back in the paint gave the Antelopes their first lead (28-27) with 1:32 left until halftime.
Brown Mackie, however, scored the last six points of the first half and seven of the first nine to start the second stanza for a 13-2 run. Holm ended the first half with 3-point play to give Brown Mackie a 33-28 halftime lead, and a Webber 3-ball made it 40-30 Lions shortly after the break.
"I got worried late in the first half when Lamar came back and our heads were hanging, but I've learned never to doubt this group (BMC)," Ferguson said. "Lamar's not a bad team. They've won a few games this year and they shoot the ball well, but our girls just kept reaching down deep and never quit."
When Lion center Sierra Machnicki fouled out with 14:02 to play, Brown Mackie was left with four players, and Lamar cut the Lion lead to 42-40 with a 10-2 run.
Things looked bleak for BMC, but Brown Mackie's short-handed pride somehow began feasting on the overmatched Antelopes.
BMC jarred Lamar with a stunning 21-5 strike as point guard Miranda Starns joined Holm and Webber at the front of the hunt.
Starns scored 11 of her 13 points in the final 13 minutes, including a three-point play and a transition bucket that ignited Brown Mackie's 4-on-5 attack.
"We needed something to rally around, and somehow Sierra's fouling out did that for us," Ferguson said. "We got excited after that and really dug in. Our girls never quit."
Webber scored off back-to-back steals and nearly added a third straight swipe-and-score before picking up her fourth foul on a charge with 7:33 to play. Lamar scored six straight points to close the gap to 12, but the Antelopes then turned the ball over on five of six possessions, and a Starns 3 gave the Lions a 20-point lead with 4:35 left.
The BMC roster was reduced to three when forward LaChelle Hyatt fouled out with 1:36 remaining, but it did Lamar little good. Webber and Holm each converted 3-point plays down the stretch for Brown Mackie, and the smiling Lions received a standing ovation from the astonished spectators as the final seconds dripped away.
"I think Lamar was more confused than we were," Ferguson said. "They struggled with turnovers that gave us some easy baskets, and our offense didn't change much with four players. We actually ran it even better with four. I knew our team was tough, but winning a game like this is hard to imagine."
Webber scored 19 of her game-high 27 in the second half. Christina Belone led Lamar with 13 points, followed by Alicia Smith's 10 off the bench.
The Lions expect injured guard Monica Burgess to return within a week.