Last-second shot lifts Kuna past Lady Tigers

Ruby Shreeve hit one of two free throws with 12.8 seconds left to lift Kuna past Mountain Home 51-50 Thursday night in conference girls basketball at Kuna.

The lead went back and fourth in the first quarter, with Mountain Home trailing 16-13 after a quarter.

An 8-0 run midway through the second quarter put the Lady Tigers up 25-19. They led 28-24 at the half.

Mountain Home built its lead to 10 points, 34-24, early in the third quarter, and led 41-33 heading into the fourth.

An 8-0 run in the middle of the fourth quarter gave Kuna the lead, 45-43. They led 47-44 with under two minutes left in the game.

Baskets by Jacci Cristobal and Selena Foster helped Mountain Home regain the lead, 48-47, but the Lady Kavemen battled back to go up 50-48 with 39 seconds left.

Marissa Streeter scored with 22 seconds left to tie the game at 50-50.

Ruby Shreeve drove the lane and was fouled with 12.8 seconds left, then hit one of two free throws to give Kuna the lead.

Mountain Home came down quickly but an offensive foul turned the ball over. The Lady Tigers got the ball back in the closing seconds, but could not get a shot off before the buzzer sounded, and came up short, 51-50.

In comments after the game, Mountain Home coach Brent Keener said it was definitely a tough one to lose.

"That's a heartbreaker," the coach said. "A good high school basketball game, but a tough one to lose. I thought we were up eight -- that charge (call) on Selena, that one was really a momentum killer, and I don't like to talk about the officiating much, but that was one of the worst calls I've ever seen.

"We had a two-on-one break and Selena totally avoided the defender and went to the side of her and finished it. It should have been a (basket) and one, and that girl just totally flopped."

Selena Foster and Jacci Cristobal led Mountain Home in scoring with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Tessa Pachner added eight, Madi Karst six, Mattie Bennett three and Marissa Streeter and Whitney Sandberg both scored two points.

Mountain Home shot 37 percent from the field, hitting two of seven three-point shots. They went to the foul line just eight times and made four for 50 percent.

Kuna shot 35 percent but made 56 percent on treys, and hit 10 of 17 free throws.

Mountain Home dominated the boards, 37-22, with Selena Foster bringing down eight, Tessa Pachner, seven.

The loss dropped the Lady Tigers to 3-5 in league play and 3-8 overall.