Storybook season meets unpleasant ending
By KYLE WILSON
DES MOINES — The Class 1A state championship was heading to overtime Friday evening at Wells Fargo Arena.
Four seconds remained.
Mount Ayr and Exira were knotted at 55-all.
Exira had the ball on the far baseline, 94 feet from their basket.
No way was Exira pulling this off? Too far? Not enough time? ... Right?
Wrong.
In one play, Exira’s Ann Walker became a town hero.
A tipped baseball pass, a frantic scurry for a loose basketball and a wide open Walker. That’s how the Mount Ayr Raiderettes lost the state championship Friday.
Walker stood under the basket with the ball, unguarded. Mount Ayr furiously tried to recover. She shot the ball with one second remaining, the ball bounced on the iron, bounced more, then rolled slowly around the side. The light inside the backboard, signaling the end of the quarter, beamed red ... and the ball fell through the net.
For more on this story, see Monday's Creston News Advertiser.
