North Decatur traveled north to take on the second-ranked Eastern Hancock Royals on Tuesday night, losing the hard-fought battle in overtime 55-53.
The teams were neck and neck throughout the contest. No team had a lead greater than 8 points.
Eastern Hancock controlled the first quarter leading 9-4. Ella Kunz opened up the scoring with two free throws to put the Chargers up 2-0. After 9 straight Royal points, Allen connected on a drive and pull-up jumper to cut the lead to five.
The pair of Allen and Kunz continued to be forces in the second quarter, where Kunz went 5/6 from the field and Allen connected on a pair of buckets inside the paint. Each added a pair of free throws as well as Kinker who punched in 2 from the charity stripe. The Chargers led at the break 24-20.
Eastern Hancock outscored the Chargers in the third quarter 17-14 to trim the narrow North led to 1 at 38-37.
The Royals took the lead back midway through the 4th quarter and it wasn’t until Clare Kinker had a rebound put back with 3.5 seconds to go in the game that North tied it up to force overtime. This coming after a backcourt steal under 20 seconds.
The two teams continued their competitive action in the extra four minutes, with neither team giving an inch. Eastern Hancock would take the lead with just a few seconds remaining and North Decatur’s last chance to tie fell short as the clock ran out.
The loss drops North Decatur to 5-4 on the season. Eastern Hancock moves to 9-0 on the campaign.
North will be in action on Thursday night at home against Franklin County.