Marengo's Villie banks in winner in final seconds

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MARENGO – Able to score almost anywhere on the basketball court, versatile junior forward Jessica Villie hardly was a surprise choice for Marengo to turn to needing a basket in crunch time.

Villie had one goal – attack the hoop – with the ball in her hands and less than 10 seconds left Thursday, her team trailing by one in a non-conference game against St. Viator. Villie banked in a runner down the middle of the lane amid plenty of Lions defenders to give Marengo a 47-46 lead with only 3.3 seconds remaining.

St. Viator’s half-court heave missed, and the Indians earned the comeback win after trailing by as many as 10 points in the second quarter.

“I wasn’t thinking anything,” Villie said. “I was kind of shocked how calm I was right there, but I wasn’t really seeing anything. I just saw the open hole and took it.”

A force on the offensive glass, Villie scored a game-high 16 points, which included a free throw that briefly put the Indians ahead, 45-44, with 56.2 seconds left, and grabbed 13 rebounds (five offensive).

“At the end of the game, you want to put the ball in some of your better playmakers’ hands in particular, and at the end we called Villie’s number and she came through,” Marengo coach Nick Rode said. “She’s a girl that’s deceiving. I know she does a lot of things in the paint, but you move her away from the basket (and) she can handle the ball well and change directions.”

Marengo (15-4) attempted 23 free throws to the Lions’ five and converted 17 (73.9 percent). Senior point guard Molly Richardson came up huge at the foul line on her 18th birthday, knocking down 8 of 9.

“It was a frustrating game for sure; my shot definitely was not on,” said Richardson, who finished with 10 points. “A big thing about our team is when somebody has an off night we step up.”

St. Viator (13-10) knocked Richardson down as she tried to get off a three to beat the halftime buzzer, and she made them pay for the mental mistake. Richardson made all three free throws to bring Marengo within 26-24 at the half.

“I think that shows her character,” Villie said of Richardson. “I think it’s really hard to have an off shooting day and then go to the free-throw line and still hit them so that was huge.”

The Indians couldn’t have scripted a much better start against St. Viator. They opened the first quarter forcing three turnovers, thanks to a trapping press, and jumped to a 9-2 lead. Neither team led by more than two points at the end of any quarter.

“The mistakes we made, Marengo took advantage of them and they punished us for them,” Lions coach Paul Bjerkness said.