Golden Valley wins thriller over Merced

Delia Moore made the crowd disappear. The Golden Valley freshman pictured herself all alone in front of her house as she stepped to the free throw line.

Moore then sank two free throws to give the Cougars a one-point lead with 26 seconds left and Golden Valley hung on for a 60-58 win over Merced in a battle of Central California Conference unbeatens on Thursday night at Clemons Court.

“Lately I haven’t been shooting my free throws that good,” said Moore, who scored 22 points. “I kept putting myself in that situation in practice, knowing some time it’s going to come down to me making two free throws. My mom told me to imagine myself in the front yard shooting free throws and that’s what I did.”

It was a gutsy win for a Cougars team that had lost 13 in a row to Merced dating back to 2009.

Golden Valley (16-3, 5-0) had to overcome a hot shooting Bears team that knocked down 11 3-pointers.

“It seemed like they hit 37 three-pointers tonight,” Cougars coach Matt Thissen said. “When a team is shooting like that...If Somebody had told me Merced was going to make 11 three-pointers, I would have said we would lose by double-digits.”

Bears star Lexi Thompson started on fire, scoring Merced’s first nine points. In the second quarter, everyone got involved as Kynisha Turner, Alexis Pierce, Jordan Pierce and Brittany McCreary all hit shots from beyond the arc to give Merced a 26-24 lead at the half.

Thompson finished with 23 points, including three treys. At one point in the second half Thissen told Thompson, “You can help us out and miss a shot once in a while,” which got a chuckle from Thompson.

“Their shots were falling,” Moore said. “They hit so many threes. We would work so hard offensively to catch up and then they’d hit another three. It was frustrating.”

The Cougars used a 15-4 run to take a 43-36 lead with 57 seconds left in the third quarter. Delia and Stephanie Moore combined for 10 of the points.

It was Merced’s turn to battle back and it did as Jordan Pierce made one of her four 3-pointers to pull the Bears within 43-40 at the end of the third quarter.

Jordan Pierce finished with 14 points off the bench as the Bears battled through foul trouble and an ankle injury to that sidelined starter Sam Dinkins for most of the game.

“We had great bench play from Jordan and Brittany McCreary. They both hit big shots for us and tough rebounds,” Merced coach Rob Pierce said. “If we didn’t get that kind of play from them it would have been a longer night for us.”

Stephanie Moore (18 points) stretched the Cougars’ lead to 47-40 early in the fourth quarter, but she picked up her fourth foul shortly after and that opened the door for Merced.

Merced quickly cut the lead to 47-45 and it tight the rest of the way as McCreary tied the game at 53-all with a three. After trading baskets, Symone Gilliam made one of two free throws to give Merced a 56-55 lead with 1:54 remaining.

Stephanie Moore answered with two free throws to give GV a 57-56 lead with 1:05 left and Jordan Pierce followed with a basket to retake a 58-57 lead for Merced with 35 seconds remaining.

That set the stage for Delia Moore who sank her two free throws with 26 seconds left. Merced had one final shot, but Thompson was whistled for traveling with 3 seconds left.

“The difference in this team is their character,” Thissen said. “This team keeps fighting. They have the will to persevere. Unfortunately, we haven’t had that the past couple years.”

This story was originally published January 22, 2015 at 11:30 PM with the headline "Golden Valley wins thriller over Merced."