*Reposting some of my clips from life as a sports reporter as I find them. These are exactly as they appeared in print/online minus photos.
Printed in the Rocky Mountain News – December 10, 1994
By Tiffany Trott
Special to the News
PARKER – Littleton battled back from a nine-point halftime deficit to overcome Ponderosa 49-45 in overtime Friday night at Ponderosa High School.
Littleton, ranked No. 3 in Class 4A, overcame a crucial mistake in the final seconds of regulation and outscored the Mustangs, ranked ninth in Class 5A, 6-2 in overtime to take the victory.
Senior Missy Dougherty made five free throws to tie the game 37-37 for Ponderosa with 4:37 left to go, but a putback by Littleton’s Kelly Lytton and a layup by Jennifer Hardy with only 4 seconds left in regulation tied the score for the Lions.
But Stephanie Allen, who led all the scorers with 16 points, called timeout with 2 seconds left but Littleton had no timeouts remaining. Allen said she thought she had lost the game for the Lions.
“It was stupid of me for calling the timeout. So right there I lost a lot of my poise,” Allen said. “I thought we were going to lose because of that, but we came out and knew we could take them in overtime if we watched our fouls.”
Ponderosa had a chance to seal a victory with the technical foul shots but Dougherty, and 80% free-throw shooter, missed both attempts.
Littleton coach Mark Drury said an overtime game last week against Boulder might have given the Lions an edge in the extra period.
“We have been in this situation already this season so it may have helped,” Drury said.
Allen scored 11 of the Littleton Lions’ 19 points in the key third period to help her team take a one-point lead into the final period.
