WEBB CITY, Mo. — After clinching the program’s first ever district title against McAuley Catholic less than a week ago, Golden City continued to make history on Tuesday after rallying back from a double-digit halftime deficit to defeat Drexel 39-37 in the Class 1 sectional round at Webb City High School.
“We have said this about them all year, they are a special group of kids,” Golden City coach Derek Judd said. “There is zero ounce of quit in them. They took their butt chewing at halftime and they completely changed the way they played. They were strong and did what they were told. This is an amazing group of kids.”
The Eagles advance to take on Walnut Grove (22-7) in the Class 1 quarterfinal round with a 1 p.m. matchup on Saturday at Meyer Wellness Center on the campus of Southwest Baptist University.
“We’ve had a lot of firsts this season and we want to continue that,” Judd said. “We lost to Walnut Grove in the district championship last year and lost to them by eight this year. I think we are ready (for that challenge). We’ve told them for a long time that they can make it to the Final Four and I think they are starting to believe.”
Drexel (19-10) took a 22-9 lead into the intermission, but Golden City outscored the Bobcats 13-5 in the third quarter to cut the lead to five to start the final eight minutes of action.
The Eagles opened the fourth quarter with the first four points to trim the lead to one, 27-26.
The Bobcats prevented Golden City from tying or taking the lead over the next five-plus minutes of action until Brooke Beerly buried a 3-pointer from the wing with 30 seconds to play to give the Eagles their first lead of the second half, 37-35.
Emily Wheeler responded for Drexel, knifing her way through traffic on the way to a driving score with 15 seconds left to tie the game at 37-37.
The ball found its way into Beerly’s hands at the other end with time dwindling. With Beerly drawing attention at the perimeter, she sent the ball to the low post in the hands of Elizabeth Renfro, who drop-stepped to the basket and converted inside with 1.1 seconds left to ultimately send the Eagles home as sectional champions.
“Brooke is an excellent outside shooter and we knew her shot was going in as soon as it left her hands,” Judd said about his team’s final two buckets of the win. “Liz is a freshman and move-in. She played with us this summer and we had been on her hard about working on her drop-step because there was a reason for it. She executed it to perfection and put it in, and I have never seen a kid so excited in my life after that.”
STAT LEADERS
Beerly led Golden City with 24 points and six rebounds, while Kyndall Scott added 10 points and four rebounds. Ahree Lutes had 12 rebounds, two steals and two points.
Wheeler finished with a game-high 26 points to lead Drexel in scoring. She added seven rebounds, two blocks, a steal and an assist. Izzy Richardson finished with nine points in the loss.
