Someone forgot to tell Kymi Nance.

Instead, Dunkirk’s all-time leading scorer put her team on her back and carried the Lady Marauders to one of the most miraculous comebacks Section VI postseason girls basketball has ever seen. In the biggest game of her career to date, Nance finished with a career-high 38 points, as Dunkirk finished the game on a 35-2 run over the final 10 minutes of the game to sink Southwestern, 75-62, on Wednesday night at Buffalo State College. The win now advances the Lady Marauders to the Far West Regional game later this week.

“Down 20, you don’t think you’re going to win a game like that. You think it’s over — but we’re not that kind of team,” said Nance after the win. “I thought ‘Wake up! You’ve got a job to do’.”

“This is such a credit to our kids. Who goes on a 35-2 run in a championship game like that,” said Dunkirk coach Ken Ricker.

Dunkirk’s Nadara O’Dell (5) attempts to dribble past Southwestern defender Gianna Hoose (33) in Wednesday’s Section VI Class B Crossover game, at Buffalo State College. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.

Dunkirk (24-1, Class B1 champions) started the game on a typical high note, with the first six points of the game and eight of the of the game’s first 10 points. The Lady Marauders led 8-2 after 3-pointers by Nance and Olivia Smith and a layup by Nadara O’Dell, with 5:42 left to play in the opening period.

Then, all of a sudden, things changed in a hurry.

Southwestern (14-11, Class B2 champions) scored the next 14 points of the game over the next 5:25 of action. Reece Beaver had three buckets, while Hoose and Allison Lundmark each had two buckets apiece in the run that put the Lady Trojans ahead 16-8 with under a minute left in the period. Nance closed the quarter out with a 3-pointer to make the score 16-11 in favor of Southwestern after one quarter.

“We didn’t have an answer for Kymi Nance,” said Southwestern coach Dave Turnbull. “She wasn’t going to be denied tonight. That’s what it boiled down to.”

Just as she started and finished the first quarter, Nance drilled another 3-pointer to start the second quarter. O’Dell followed with a layup to tie the score at 16-all. Southwestern countered with a pair of buckets from Beaver to take a 20-16 lead, but Dunkirk answered back with a 3-pointer by Jessica Beehler to cut the Lady Marauders’ deficit to just a point. The two teams stayed within six points of each other the entire second quarter, with a Beaver 3-pointer to conclude the scoring in the first half representing the largest difference between the two teams in the period, 39-33, going into halftime.

Dunkirk’s Jessica Beehler (13) attempts to split two Southwestern defenders, during Dunkirk’s 75-62 victory. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.

At the half, Beaver had 13 points to lead Southwestern, while Nance had 15 of Dunkirk’s 33 points at the break.

Just as Dunkirk did in the first half, Southwestern started the second half on a torrid pace. Led by Hoose, Southwestern scored the first 11 points of the second half over 1:37 to lead 50-33 with 6:23 left in the third quarter. Hoose had two more buckets later in the quarter to help extend the lead to 20 points, 60-40, with under two minutes left to play in the third quarter.

“We were playing very good defense. We were running the offense pretty well. We were getting good looks and making shots,” said Turnbull.

“I was worried. I thought maybe we were just out of gas,” said Ricker.

But then Dunkirk began its comeback. First, Beehler made a shot, then Nance split a pair of free-throws. Then, Nance nailed an and-one layup that energized the Dunkirk crowd. She made another bucket to close out the quarter on an 8-0 run over the final 65 seconds to put Dunkirk within 12 points going into the final period. At that point, the deficit didn’t seem so insurmountable.

OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen.

“When we got to the end of the third quarter down 12, I thought that was realistic. We score in bunches, we can do this,” said Ricker.

As it turned out, the 8-0 run to close the third quarter had nothing on what would follow for Dunkirk. The Lady Marauders ran away with the game in the fourth quarter, led by who else but the program’s greatest scorer of all.

Nance’s senior teammates set her up for the moment, as Beehler and Amari Carter each hit 3-pointers to start the scoring in the final period. Then Nance hit a layup, followed by a layup by Smith off a steal. At that point, the score was 60-58 in favor of Southwestern with 5:13 left to play.

Just over a minute later, Nance delivered another crippling blow to Southwestern’s hopes. Nance drilled a go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:58 to go for a 61-60 lead. Hoose answered with a bucket to regain the lead for a moment, but Nance took the lead right back with another 3-pointer, to lead 64-62. Including the second go-ahead 3-pointer by Nance, Dunkirk ended the game by scoring the final 14 points of the contest. Dunkirk outscored Southwestern 27-2 in the fourth quarter.

“Offensively, in the fourth quarter, we couldn’t make anything. The shots that we normally make just weren’t falling, and that happens sometimes,” said Turnbull.

In addition to her game-high 38 points, Nance added five rebounds, four assists, a pair of steals and a pair of blocks.

“I’m harder on her than anyone I’ve ever coached,” said Ricker. “Kids nowadays are told what they can’t do, what they don’t do well. … I want to tell the kids what they can do, that they can be great, that they are good at this.

… Kymi just rose to the occasion. … I’ve been so hard on her, but she always comes to work. Tonight is just a part of those labors.”

Beehler finished one assist shy of yet another triple-double, as she tallied 15 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. O’Dell had 14 points, eight rebounds and four steals, while Carter had 10 rebounds.

Southwestern was led by Hoose with 18 points. Beaver did not score in the second half, after tallying 13 points in the first half. Sofia Genareo had 13 points and Allison Lundmark had 10 points for the Lady Trojans.

For Southwestern, the loss was the third this season against Dunkirk, after dropping the two regular season contests in CCAA Division 1 West play. Southwestern has now also lost in the crossover game after winning the Sectional Championship in three consecutive years.

“This was one of the most resilient groups of kids I’ve ever been around,” said Turnbull. “For the seniors, this is hard, but nine of the twelve will be back next year.”

For Dunkirk, the magical ride continues, as the Lady Marauders are now just a win this weekend away from making the trip to Troy for the State Final Four.

“This started in the summer. Six in the morning, running suicides and constantly working on your body, you’re not doing that for nothing. It shows, it pays off,” said Nance. “… We want to go all the way to the top. We’re only a few wins away. Coach has been talking about States since the beginning of the season. I want that.”