Daily Leader Inside Sports sponsored by Toyota of Brookhaven gives you the final 14 seconds of the Enterprise/South Delta playoff matchup on Monday. Enterprise junior Caitlin Case hits a last second shot, but South Delta survives to win by one.

ENTERPRISE — If you thought that the shot banked in by Enterprise junior forward Caitlin Case on Monday in the closing seconds was a 3-pointer that tied the game, then you weren’t alone.

Many in the stands and on the bench thought the same thing, but the referees never raised their hands to signal the shot came from behind the arc, as they saw a small part of her foot on the line.

Visiting South Delta quickly inbounded the ball and raced to the other end of the court, almost looking like they thought the game was tied too.

It wasn’t though, as the ball was knocked out of bounds, the horn went off, and stunned faces dotted the home side as realization crept in that South Delta had escaped with a 59-58 win in the MHSAA 1A girls’ basketball playoff opener between the schools.

The loss does not damper what has been an outstanding season for the Enterprise girls’ team in the first year under coach Blaine Roberts. EAC lost 57-54 to Lumberton at Lumberton on Friday in the Region 8-1A championship game in overtime.
Roberts squad finished 16-11 overall and it’s believed that the home playoff game was the first time for the Yellow Jackets to host in the postseason in nearly 15 years. The last time the program won close to this many games was a 15-11 finish in 2016-2017.

Enterprise led in the early going of the game as they sprinted out to an 11-4 advantage that had SD calling for a timeout.

South Delta, out of Rolling Fork, took its first lead at 26-25.

Enterprise would play from behind for the entirety of the second and third quarter as the Bulldogs from South Delta outscored them 23-5 in the second quarter and led 33-25 at halftime.

The lead eventually ballooned out to 14 points, but it never felt like Enterprise was too far behind, because of how the game was paced.

There was a time when one felt like they were watching a Saturday afternoon matinee of roller derby narrated by Howard Cosell on ABC Sports in early 1980s.

You remember the sport, right? It involved athletes that used hand-to-hand combat to make laps around an oval track.

The referees were to blame for the breakneck pace on Monday, as they looked indifferent at times and ineffective at others. Hand checks were not called nor were body checks or slide tackles.

The absence of law and order benefitted both teams at times and was part of Enterprise clawing back ahead 48-47 early in the fourth quarter on a nifty euro-step layup by senior Natalie Williams that had the home side of the Enterprise gym alive with the cheers of the Yellow Jacket fans in attendance.

With just over a minute left, South Delta tied the game at 56-56 on an offensive rebound putback. The Bulldogs then went up 57-56 on a free throw.

Enterprise turned the ball over while trying to come down for a go-ahead basket. They then forced a turnover on the subsequent inbound but turned it over again.

That proved to be costly, as South Delta senior guard R’Reuna Ousley snuck in to steal the inbounds pass and raced down for a layup that put her team up 59-56 with 30 seconds remaining.

Ousley was the straw that stirred the drink for South Delta, finishing with a game high 23 points.

The Yellow Jackets had three different possessions in the next 20 seconds to try and trim the lead or tie things up, but two ended in missed shots and one in a turnover.

South Delta then missed a pair of free throws, setting up the final shot by Case, which banked through with seven seconds remaining.

Williams led the way for Enterprise with 17 points. Case scored 14 points and Mikayla Price added eight points. Miranda Andrson, Jayden Keene and Piper Martin scored four points each. Kailee Knuckles scored three points while Sarah Burgess and Johna Claire Haralson each chipped in two points apiece.

South Delta (9-8) moves on to face Taylorsville (17-12) on Friday in the second round.