L.D. Bell’s 4-star guard hits game-winner as Blue Raiders beat Richland in triple OT
Myra Gordon banked in the go-ahead 3-pointer from the right wing with 20 seconds left and L.D. Bell outlasted Richland 61-60 in triple overtime in a District 3-6A girls basketball matchup on Tuesday night.
Richland (13-15, 8-2) couldn’t extend its lead to four after the Rebels missed two free throws with 33.5 to go in the third OT.
The Rebels missed the final two shots when they got the ball back with 4.5 remaining.
“It’s one of the craziest games I’ve ever been a part of,” Bell coach Andy Bloodworth said. “Seemed like both teams had it won at a particular time in the overtime, but that’s a testament to good teams, they always fight and are always never out. Give credit to both teams.”
“I just knew I had to hit something big in order to win this game,” added Gordon, who scored a game-high 38 points. “I shot the ball, it banked in and we ended up winning. I didn’t call bank though.”
Kyla Davis hit a 3-pointer and Gordon scored eight to help Bell (29-3, 10-1) take an 11-10 lead after one.
After going down 25-17 at the break and 29-20 in the third quarter, Taylor Phouangaphayvong recorded an 8-0 run to bring Richland to within a point.
A Gordon three pushed Bell’s lead to 37-33 with 4:08 left in regulation, but Richland kept chipping away. Phouangaphayvong would hit two free throws to tie it at 43-43 with 21.5 left.
“Just kept telling them to believe in what we do,” Bloodworth said. “We’ve been conditioning a lot more and that’s what we talked about in the locker room. I feel like we did a great job there, didn’t feel like we lost a lot of energy.”
Davis returned to the game after an earlier injury and hit a three to give Bell a 48-47 lead. The Blue Raiders led 50-47 and rebounded a missed shot with 15 seconds to go in the first overtime, but they turned it over and the Rebels got off two more 3-pointers including a circus shot from Faith Husbenet to tie the game at the buzzer.
“They got a couple of offensive boards and I knew if we didn’t box out then one was going to fall eventually,” Gordon said. “That was such a crazy shot.”
Phouangaphayvong’s bucket with 3:03 in the second OT gave Richland a 52-50 lead, but the Blue Raiders tied it on Jayden Rhodes’ layup a minute later.
Gordon hit both free throws to give Bell a 54-52 advantage. Richland’s Simara Peyton, who finished with 20 points, tied it at 54-54 before Bell got a layup from Davis, who added 13 points for the Blue Raiders.
“My teammates really stepped up tonight,” Gordon said.
Trailing 58-56, Richland took the 60-58 lead when Phouangaphayvong drove it into the paint for two layups, the latter with 50 seconds left in third OT. She finished with a team-high 26 points. Her assist to Peyton with 1:16 in the second OT tied it at 56-56.
“Someone had to prevail and I’m sure glad it’s us,” Bloodworth said.
Bell is off on Friday before finishing at San Angelo Central (27-6, 9-1) on Feb. 5.
Richland hosts Central on Friday and visits Haltom to end the regular season.
This story was originally published January 29, 2019 at 10:40 PM.
