Shelby Sievers stepped to the free-throw line in a tied game with a fraction of a second remaining Monday.
The Poplar Bluff senior had been here plenty of times in practice, but it was just her sixth attempt nine games and the first of the night.
With little hesitation, Sievers knocked down the go-ahead free throw to give the host Mules a 57-56 win over state-ranked Oran at the Senior High Gym.
"We do this little drill every day, it's a four-minute drill and you have to keep your longest free-throw streak," said Sievers who added that her longest run is 20 in a row.
"Every day, everybody gets better and I really think that's helping us and I think that helped me a lot with my shot there."
Sievers was fouled with 0.2 of a second remaining on a putback attempt after rebounding a missed 3-pointer by Katie Pattillo.
"I just got the rebound and saw there was (time), so I just threw it up and luckily got hit," Sievers said.
Pattillo forced a turnover with 14 seconds remaining when the sophomore pressured Oran's guard for a five-second count. The Eagles were holding for the final shot after a Poplar Bluff turnover with just under a minute remaining.
"We still make mistakes but I like how hard we battle," Mules coach John David Pattillo said. "We've got some young girls stepping up."
Oran all-state junior Leah Cauble scored a game-high 25 points while Jessie Long added 21, all before the fourth quarter.
Poplar Bluff sophomore Kiley Bess scored 17 points and chased Cauble on the other end of the court. Senior forward Doni Everts also scored 17 for the Mules despite sitting long stretches with foul trouble.
Sievers, who was 3 for 5 at the line this season, added 10 points, missing a chance to match her career high by purposely missing the final free throw to run out the clock. Her sister, freshman Sierra Sievers, scored four third-quarter points and had six rebounds off the bench.
"We knew coming in here it was going to be tough," Oran coach Ethan Evans said.
In all, there were 12 ties and 11 lead changes.
The Eagles, 6-2 and ranked No. 4 in Class 2 by the state coaches, scored six straight early to build an 8-2 lead but that was the largest lead for either side and it didn't last very long.
Hannah Bass scored her only bucket for the Mules then got a steal before Everts cut into the deficit. Bess later scored consecutive baskets to tie the game at 14-all.
The Mules (6-3) led 16-14 after one quarter when Bess set up Shelby Sievers for a last-second shot.
The teams traded the lead and turnovers in the second quarter with Long's 3 breaking a 25-all tie with 2:40 left in the half. Katelyn Streeter's 3 in the closing seconds put Oran up 31-27 at the break.
"Jessie is a good player for us, she's a three-year starter," Evans said of Long who scored 16 first-half points. "She stepped up and made some shots when she had to tonight."
Oran led by five early in the third quarter before Bess set up Sievers in the paint for a basket, then caught an outlet pass from Sievers for a fastbreak that led to a game-tying three-point play. Bess got a steal as the Mules pressed and Sierra Sievers scored in the post off a pass from Pattillo.
Cauble, who scored 10 third-quarter points, answered to pull Oran even at the 5:21 mark and neither team led by more than a basket the rest of the way,
Tied at 46-all to start the fourth, Oran's Katie Webb scored on a putback but Shelby Sievers hit a go-ahead 3-pointer off a pass from Hannah Corcimiglia.
"We're really a second-half team," Sievers said. "We kind of start slow but we always finish stronger than we start."
Poplar Bluff, which was 9 for 13 at the foul line, got two free throws in consecutive possessions to lead 52-48 but Cauble scored four straight points as Oran retook the lead.
Everts scored on a back-door cut off a pass from Pattillo as the Mules answered.
The lead changed sides three times with Webb's putback putting Oran ahead 56-55 with 1:40 left but Bess got to the free-throw line 20 seconds later and split two foul shots to tie it.
Cauble missed a step-back 3 but the Mules quickly turned it over on a backcourt violation and the Eagles looked for the final shot with 56 seconds left, but instead turned it over.
"Something you want to do here early, you want to try to learn from your losses," Evans said. "Hopefully we can do that."
NOTES
Oran won the junior varsity game 43-40 after Poplar Bluff missed a pair of last-second 3-pointers. Sierra Sievers scored 13 points and Cali King added nine to lead the Mules (1-2). ... Oran was without sophomore Kaylee Payne, who has a stress fracture in her shin, while Poplar Bluff's Emma Johnson missed her second game with a broken nose. ...The teams were even with 20 turnovers each, Oran had one more rebound than Poplar Bluff, which attempted one more shot. ...The Mules are off until Dec. 27-29 when they travel to Hoxie, Arkansas for a tournament.