NORTHVILLE -- Hailey Monroe set the Northville gymnasium into a frenzy on Tuesday night like only she can.
While it wasn't quite a buzzer-beater, as there were still 3.9 seconds to spare, Monroe somehow managed to bank in a heave on a last-second 3-point attempt and also draw the foul.
The dramatic bucket put Northville on top 37-35 over Cobleskill-Richmondville in a score that held over the final seconds in the Western Athletic Conference girls' basketball semifinals.
"It was so exciting. I was trying to draw the foul, which I did, and then I saw the ball go in," Monroe said. "I turned around, Abby [Armstrong] and I were so hyped. I high-fived her so hard that she started bleeding. I was excited.
"Everyone was asking me if I called bank. I'll say I did."
"When there was a minute left, down one, I knew that Hailey's had us," said Northville junior Keira Mackey. "I always think that. She always comes through."
Entering the game, it was a rematch Northville had been hoping for since Dec. 6. The Falcons have just one loss this season, which belongs to Cobleskill-Richmondville. Since that game, Northville's fourth of the season, the 18-1 Falcons have not lost.
"We didn't know much about them the first time we played them since they were new to our league and we've never played them before," Monroe said of that 37-30 setback "After the first game, we knew that they were solid, taller than us, poised and that we would have to bring our best game."
While there was no guarantee the two teams would meet again, with Northville being a Class D school and Cobleskill-Richmondville being in Class B, the only opportunity for it to happen would have been the WAC tournament.
"We were clocking scores and mapping it out for what needed to happen," Monroe said. "We wanted to get our get back."
Before the game began, Northville added a line to its pregame huddle routine.
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"At the start of the game," Monroe explained, "it was 'Team on three' and 'Nobody beats Zullo twice.'"
It was a defensive battle through the first half, with Northville holding a 19-18 lead at the break.
"It goes to show that even if you are a good team and we're not hitting shots, we're not going to let you score on us either," said Monroe, noting how her team's games are typically much higher-scoring.
While the Falcons briefly began to break away in the third quarter, Cobleskill-Richmondville stormed right back to stay in the game.
With about four minutes remaining in the game, the Bulldogs took a 35-34 lead, and with a minute to go, still maintained the 35-34 edge over the Falcons.
Northville had most of the possession, but was struggling to break through the Cobleskill-Richmondville defense, to get off a clean shot.
Northville head coach Jim Zullo called a handful of timeouts during this stretch, allowing his team to reset and draw up new plays, and on the final try, it worked.
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"He told me to go and get open, pop open and that we wanted double screens on the outside of the zone," Monroe said of what Zullo told her during a timeout with 16 seconds remaining. "I think I'm a better shooter from the left side. [After a few tries to get an open look] there was one last screen, and I threw it right off the shoulder and it went in."
"I didn't even see her shoot it," Mackey said of Monroe's dramatic 3-pointer. "I just saw the ball go in and heard them call the foul."
While Monroe led the way for Northville with 20 points, Mackey played a critical role for the team that was without its No. 2 scorer, Lily Klippel, who is out with a concussion.
Mackey knocked down four 3-pointers, scoring 12 points in the game, to help Northville spread around its offense.
"I knew that they needed to go in," Mackey said. "Obviously, Cobleskill's a big game. We've been talking about it ever since they beat us."
"We knew that we had to spread their zone out, especially at the corners," Monroe added. "I was able to control the pace of the game at the top, and Keira being able to hit those open threes was great."
Cobleskill-Richmondville, which was led offensively by Olivia Trendell's 12 points, struggled at the free throw line.
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The Bulldogs posted a 5 of 16 mark overall, while Northville went 8 for 14 at the line.
For the Falcons, being able to prove they had the ability to beat the team that handed them their only loss - it was gratifying.
"That last game we really didn't play a good game. Nobody shot well and that was something that we'd been saying, that we hope we could play them again in the crossover," Mackey said. "It feels like we've improved as a team, and that we were able to show them who we are. We've gotten better and everyone stepped up tonight.
"We showed that we can beat a really good team when we play together, and we did it without Lily. So when we have Lily back, we'll be even better. This gives us a lot of momentum."
Northville moves on to the WAC championship game, which will be against the winner of a matchup between Berne-Knox-Westerlo and OESJ.
The WAC Cup will be up for grabs next Tuesday during the title game at FMCC at 6:15 p.m.
Northville also played for the WAC championship last season, but fell to Duanesburg in the title game.
Cobleskill-Richmondville 10 8 8 9 -- 35
Northville 10 9 11 7 -- 37
Cobleskill-Richmondville scoring: Yorke 2-0-4, Swartout 3-0-6, Ellis 3-3-9, Trendell 5-2-12, Holliday 2-0-4. Northville scoring: Colon 0-2-2, Mackey 4-0-12, Monroe 7-5-20, Tompkins 1-0-2, E. Flickinger 0-1-1. Team scoring: Cobleskill-Richmondville 15-5-35, Northville 12-8-37.
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