Comets soar past Wentworth in Region 16 play-in game

Greg Kepler/Daily Mail/ Cottey's Linsey Denney goes up for a lay-in.

In a game more exciting than the final score might hint, the Cottey Comets advanced to the NJCAA post-season semi-finals by defeating the visiting Wentworth Red Dragons 67-58 on Tuesday night.

The Comets will take on North Central College Thursday at 1 p.m., at Ozark Christian College in Joplin. When Cottey met a week ago, they lost by one in the waning seconds of the contest.

Tonight's game started with the visitors controlling the tip and hitting a 3-pointer with a minute gone. Cottey retaliated on their first possession and Linsey Denney countered with a deuce to close the gap. A few seconds later, Cottey's Emily Allen turned a steal into pay dirt by hitting a layup and the hosts led 4-3. At 16:50 Allen was fouled while shooting and converted the first of what would be six trips to the charity stripes into two more points. Latasha Griggs intercepted a pass regaining Cottey's possession and it paid off with Allen again fouled and again hitting both of two tosses. With an 8-3 lead and 15:30 showing, Denney added two from the field and Cottey had a quick 10-3 lead.

Greg Kepler/Daily Mail/ Cottey's Sydney Rose goes in for a driving layup Tuesday night, during the Comets 67-58 win over Wentworth. Rose had a big game, leading all scorers with 23 points on the evening.

Wentworth's Shakorya Brower hit a field goal, got fouled, and made the free throw, closing their gap to 4, at 10-6. With 14:08 showing, Machela VanGennip connected on a field goal and a minute later, Rose made the second of two free shots giving the hosts a 13-6 lead. Wentworth's Leaunna Hankins responded with a trey to keep it interesting. Cottey began a steady habit of shooting, drawing fouls, and scoring to build a comfortable 28-19 lead at half. In the remainder of the period, Rose got hot hitting five of six free throws and a field goal while Latasha Griggs and Amalia Harris each added two of two from the stripe, VanGennip went one of two, and Allen four for four.

The visitors struck first in the second half with a minute off the clock. Brower hit a field goal for the tally. A few seconds later, Rose connected on the second of two tosses holding the Cottey advantage to eight at 29-21.

Wentworth started shooting with more confidence and picked away at the Cottey lead, scoring 10 points by 11:33 while Cottey could only muster two, both free throws by Rose. With the score now knotted at 31 all, VanGennip connected on a deuce followed by another from Rose who received a nice feed from Griggs. At 10:22, Keamber Vaughn made a free throw for Wentworth bringing the score back to within three at 35-32 Cottey.

Greg Kepler/Daily Mail/ Nevada forward Machela VanGennip goes up for a mid-range jumper Tuesday night at Hinkhouse Center. The Comets defeated Wentworth Military Academy 67-58 in a Region 16 play-in game.

The rest of the contest was a give-and-take battle with Cottey not being able to pull away, and, in fact, surrendering the lead briefly. VanGennip added a deuce to the Cottey cause and saw that countered by Vaughn. She then drew a foul and made the first half of a 1-1. Wentworth's Brower made both of two tosses closely followed by a pair of charity tosses from Cottey's Rose.

However, Wentworth added two quick field goals to cut Cottey lead to 41-40. The hosts opened it back up a little with a free throw and a field goal from VanGennip and both ends of a 1-1 from Denney, extending the lead to 46-40. A field goal from Wentworth was followed by another from Denney.

Then, the visitors went on a spree, scoring five unanswered points and trailing by just one, cutting Cottey's lead to 48-47 with 5:56 showing. At 5:24 Wentworth briefly took the lead with a deuce but Cottey quickly regrouped and took control. Denney hit a field goal, retaking the lead and then stole the ball and fed it to Griggs who converted it for two. VanGennip cashed in with two charity tosses giving the hosts a 54-49 lead with minutes remaining.

Wentworth added a point from the charity stripe but Griggs countered closely with a field goal moving the advantage to six. With three minutes left, Red Dragons guard Jazmin Bostick made 2 of 2 from the line and added a field goal 15 seconds later, closing the gap to two, 56-54. Later, Denney hit the second of two from the stripe extending the Cottey lead to three.

At 2:13, the visiting coach received a technical foul and Cottey's Rose hit the second of the two ensuing free throws. She was then fouled and hit 2 of 2, extending the lead to 60-54 with two minutes and change left. A half-minute later, Denney hit a jumper and gave the hosts a little breathing room at 62-54.

Not deterred, Wentworth's Bostick connected on a jumper, then watched as Rose hit another charity toss with 58 seconds showing. Twenty seconds later, Harris added a field goal for Cottey and with 17 seconds showing Rose made her last two free throws on the Hinkhouse court for the season, giving the Comets a 67-56 lead. With five seconds left, Bostick shot unabated and hit a deuce only to hear the buzzer sound.

Rose led all scorers with 23 including 17 of 24 from the free throw line. VanGennip added 13 including 5 of 6 from the line followed by Denney with 11, Allen with 10, Griggs with six, and Harris with four points.