Until it wasn’t.

Scoring 27 points in both the third and fourth quarters, the Lady Trojans stormed back to close that daunting 25-point deficit, and wound up leading by seven points with just 1:30 to go on the clock. At that point, victory seemed all but certain for Southwestern.

Until it wasn’t again — at least not to Dunkirk’s Kymi Nance.

After watching a 25-point lead evaporate, Nance and the Lady Marauders dug deep. After tying the game with a couple of clutch layups, the Lady Marauders had a chance to win it at the buzzer, with just a second left on the clock and the score tied at 75.

Southwestern freshman Kyra Ricker (25) looks to pass while Dunkirk’s Olivia Smith (left) and Nadara O’Dell (5) defend during Monday’s game. Southwestern’s Ricker is the daughter of Dunkirk head coach Ken Ricker. OBSERVER Photo by Ron Szot.

Nance made no mistake, as the Lady Marauders escaped with a 78-75 victory over the Lady Trojans on Monday night at Dunkirk High School, on the strength of a Nance 3-pointer as time expired.

Dunkirk’s Jessica Beehler gathered the rebound of a missed Southwestern go-ahead 3-point attempt, and Dunkirk coach Ken Ricker snuck in a time out with one tick left on the clock, just enough time to set up one last play. Nance knew the ball was coming to her.

“We designed the play real quick,” Nance said. “… If I couldn’t get a layup, I had to knock the shot down, and I did.”

With Beehler inbounding on the Dunkirk side of half-court, both teams were bunched up right at center court. Nance got separation from her defender and Beehler put the ball right into her hands. Nance turned around and leaned forward into the shot, and the rest was history.

“It’s a game you feel like you played three,” said Coach Ricker. “We won one, lost one, then won the last one. That’s what you want. It’s a lot of fun to play the way we play. I don’t know if it’s fun for poor Jessica (Beehler) who had to play all 32 minutes, but it makes for a good game.”

Southwestern freshman Kyra Ricker (25) awaits a pass as her father, Dunkirk head coach Ken Ricker (standing right) looks on, during Monday’s game in Dunkirk. OBSERVER Photo by Ron Szot.

The game got off to a roaring start for the Lady Marauders, whose overwhelming pressure and tenacity confounded the Lady Trojans. The defense stifled any offense, and the transition offense was run to perfection, with Beehler finding teammate Nadara O’Dell with stretch passes under the rim. O’Dell scored 10 of her game-high 29 points in the opening frame, as Dunkirk raced to a 23-8 lead after the first quarter.

The second quarter, for the most part, continued to heavily favor the Lady Marauders, who dominated the pace of play. Though despite that, Southwestern showed a little bit of life at the end of the half. Dunkirk went to the locker room leading 38-21, which left Coach Ricker wary of how Southwestern ended the half.

“We played so well in the first half,” Ricker said. “I was disappointed, I think at the end of the half we let them feel a little better about themselves.”

Part of that disappointment was in Nance, who picked up a couple fouls and was forced to sit on the bench in the waning stages of the second quarter, into the early part of the third quarter. Ricker knows Nance is a unique player that other teams struggle to match up with.

“She’s a little different than anyone else in our league,” Ricker said. “She can shoot, she can make plays for others, she can make plays for herself. She’s strong, she can do it all. She just hit a rough patch where she had three fouls in two minutes, and that changed who we are. We struggled once she got her fourth foul.”

Though detrimental at the time, the foul trouble may have actually aided Nance’s late game heroics.

“I believe it did help,” Nance said. “I felt myself starting to get slower, then I got a bit of a break. Considering I had four fouls, I had to play a little smarter and knock down the shots I needed to. Leaving the four other girls out there alone to play-make like I normally do meant it was my time. I had to make some shots, get a couple steals to finish the game, and that’s what I did.”

Out of the half, Southwestern came out with a few adjustments made: Namely an uptick in tenacity.

“We made a couple defensive adjustments and tried to ramp up the intensity,” said Lady Trojans coach David Turnbull. “We didn’t rebound particularly well in the first half but we were much better in the second half.”

Capitalizing on Nance’s absence, the Lady Trojans caught fire.

With 27 points in the third quarter — more than their entire first half total — the Lady Trojans closed the deficit to just seven points, led by Gianna Hoose’s nine third quarter points. The pressure was back on the Lady Marauders, up just 55-48 after their once-safe lead thinned.

The Lady Trojans’ fight continued into the fourth, this time led by Reece Beaver, who powered her team with 14 clutch fourth quarter points, leading her team to what was as much of a seven point lead. Trailing by that deficit, Ricker knew his team had to start fouling. With Nance and O’Dell each with four fouls, other Lady Marauders were responsible for giving Dunkirk a chance. The bounces went the way of the Lady Marauders, who were able to execute just well enough to escape with the victory.

Coming into the game, the spotlight was on two Rickers. Ken Ricker’s daughter, Kyra Ricker, is a freshman member of the Lady Trojans. For Ricker to have to coach with his daughter on the opposing sideline, several circumstances had to fall just right.

“From birth, she’s played, and from birth, I was going to be her coach,” Ken Ricker said. “It didn’t quite work out that way. When this opportunity came up, we knew there might be problems, but we lived in Jamestown so we never thought we’d have to go against each other, [but then] we moved to Southwestern. … It was tough, she would make shots, part of me was proud of her, but part of me was thinking ‘Don’t let her beat me.’ She’s only a freshman, she’s going to have her days, and luckily I got this one from her, but I’m not sure I’ll get another.”

Monday’s win means a lot for the Lady Marauders, who just a year ago were blown out by Southwestern. Ricker knows his girls have had to go through the ringer.

“This team has been through a lot. Last year we lost 75-20 to the same team,” Ricker said. “It was certainly a low point for all of us. That was a beating like no other I’ve ever been a part of. We play five seniors most of the game, and I had been telling them all day that if now isn’t their time, when is?”

Both teams are next in action against Allegany-Limestone, with Dunkirk facing them on Thursday, Jan. 9, and Southwestern against them on Monday, Jan. 13.

“I told the kids I was proud of how they played,” Turnbull said. “I’m extremely proud of how we came back in the second half. I’ve got some extremely sad girls in that locker room, but I told them we’re going to learn from this. Every game is a learning opportunity. I’m as proud as I can be after a loss.”

Dunkirk was led by O’Dell’s 29 points, while Nance ended the game with 25. Amari Carter added 10 points, and while Beehler only had five on the game, she collected numerous rebounds and dished off several assists, performing her job as Dunkirk’s floor general.

After her 14-point fourth quarter performance, Beaver ended the game with 19 points, while Hoose led the way for Southwestern with 23, 19 of which came in the second half. Kyra Ricker ended with 10 points for the Lady Trojans.