Down by as many as 19 points in the first half, Byron-Bergen began their comeback with a 15-4 run to end the second quarter, but fell to visiting Wheatland-Chili 50-49 in girls basketball for just their third loss of the season.
Senior co-captain Julianna Amesbury began the rally with a breakaway field goal and added two treys and another lay-up, along with a three-pointer and two free throws from senior Kelsey Fuller, and senior co-captain Miriam Tardy converting a breakaway as the Bees cut the lead down to six at halftime.
The deficit was cut to four after three quarters as Tardy had a pair of put-backs and a trey and senior Sio Caballaro added a three-pointer.
Amesbury hit a three-pointer from the left corner with 2:27 remaining in regulation to give Byron-Bergen their first lead since very early in the contest 48-47.
With the score tied 49-49, freshman MacKenzie Senf came up with a huge block on defense giving the Bees the ball with nine seconds left. But a steal and eventual foul led to the game-winning free throw with 2.4 seconds left.
“Eight seconds left you think worst case is we go to overtime, but in the first quarter we came out with nothing and that’s what cost us the game,” Byron-Bergen head coach Rick Krzewinski said. “We got down by so much and to get back actually have the lead we did a good job. The first quarter lost the game for us, it’s that simple.
“I’m not going to complain about being 11-3, but I kind of felt like we kind of gave this one away.”
Amesbury finished with a team-best 23 points and unofficially added four rebounds while Tardy scored 13 points with seven boards and Fuller finished with eight points and seven rebounds. Cabellaro added five points for the Bees, who will honor their seniors February 14 against Pembroke.
