SPRINGFIELD — Inside the last five minutes of a semifinal with Meadville, it appeared Leeton girls basketball had a shot of punching its ticket to the MSHSAA Class 1 Championship.
Shortly before the stretch, the Bulldogs took their first lead since scoring the game’s inaugural basket. They never built their advantage beyond greater than three points, though.
A triple from Meadville junior Paige Carvajal arrived with 2:09 left, tying the scoreboard and putting the momentum back in the Eagles’ possession. Leeton ended up falling 51-46 on Thursday, March 9, at Missouri State University’s Great Southern Bank Arena.
“What a game,” Leeton head coach Travis Fleming said. “A game of runs. A game where, unfortunately, the last run belonged to Meadville.”
Meadville (30-0) closed the game off at the charity stripe, where it knocked down 7-of-8 in the last 1:12. The range included 5-of-6 from junior Korrie Holcer, while 2-of-2 from Paige Carvajal iced the game.
The script went exactly the way Eagles head coach Steve Carvajal planned out during a timeout down 42-41 with 3:26 remaining.
“We didn’t panic,” Steve Carvajal said. “I told them in a timeout, we were going to have to hit a couple of free throws and make a three-pointer. Somebody’s going to have to stick one. We did. We knocked down some free throws to win it.”
Meadville’s late run spoiled the completion of Leeton’s (26-4) comeback. The Bulldogs trailed through most of the game but never fell behind more than 10 points.
Meadville went into halftime up 30-19, a gap built primarily through the combined scoring efforts of freshman Madison Carvajal and senior Mallory Dennis. The duo each had 10 points, combining for 20.
“Our youth showed early,” Travis Fleming said. “The big stage showed early. We dug ourselves a hole, I think 9 or 11 at one point. We battled back. To be honest, I was shocked when I looked up at the scoreboard and saw we were still in the ballgame. It didn’t feel like we were in the ballgame at that time.”
Travis Fleming went on to say the feeling led to an intense locker room environment before recollecting ahead of the second half.
“In the locker room we fractured,” Travis Fleming said. “We were yelling at each other, we were pointing fingers a little bit. But, then we showed when we all get on the same page we can show how much we love each other and how hard we play for each other.”
The Bulldogs kept within single digits in the third quarter, thriving as senior Jadeyn Johnson sank her first four makes of the contest after going 0-for-8 in the first half.
Johnson made two consecutive to close the frame while bringing Leeton within 39-35. She sank another layup to start the fourth quarter before sophomore Jayden Parsons hit two additional shots to put Leeton up 41-39 with 6:09 remaining.
It gave the Bulldogs their first lead since going up 2-0 to begin the game.
“Even when we did fight back and we looked up at the scoreboard and we were winning by one or winning by two after free throws or whatever, it just didn’t feel like we were ahead,” senior Bailey Fleming said. “We were chasing constantly, trying to catch up. I think it just proves how hard we wanted it and how hard we wanted to work for it.”
Rebounding helped keep Leeton in the game, winning the margin 40-27, including 17-12 on the offensive end.
The Bulldogs tallied 10 boards in the last eight minutes compared to Meadville’s seven.
Leeton still turned the ball over on 23 occasions, including two shortly after Paige Carvajal nailed her deepshot with 2:09 left.
“Right there, down the stretch, that’s all we talked about in the game,” Travis Fleming said. “We just didn’t handle the ball very well or get good shots at the bucket and do those kind of things. That’s going to come with some youth.”
Sophomore Hadley Shaffer and Johnson each finished with 12 points, while Parsons had nine, junior Chezney Early had seven, Bailey Fleming had two, sophomore Jillian Mudd had two and sophomore Brooklynn Fleming had two.
Shaffer and Johnson each finished with double-doubles, also logging 13 and 11 rebounds, respectively.
“Our younger kids stepped up big time,” Johnson said. “We came out at halftime and they looked at us and said, ‘we got this, we want this.’ That shows how much we wanted it as a team. It’s dumb it didn’t come out that way.”
The loss advances Leeton to the MSHSAA Class 1 third-place game, where it will play Platte Valley at noon Friday, March 10 inside the Hammons Student Center at Missouri State.
Platte Valley lost to Chadwick 55-43 in their semifinal Thursday. It’ll mark the third time Leeton and Platte Valley have met in the last three years.
Platte Valley beat the Bulldogs in the 2021 state championship and the 2022 semifinals.
“It’s two recent year super historical programs,” Travis Fleming said. “They’re sitting on two state championships. That is the only team that’s beat us the previous two seasons in Class 1. I expect both of us will dry our tears real quick, get something to eat, then come back tomorrow and have another war for that third-place trophy.”
Joe Andrews can be reached at 660-747-8123.
