Third-quarter surge propels BV Southwest girls to 10-point victory

Blue Valley Southwest bounced back nicely from a two-point second quarter with a 16-point third quarter against Bishop Carroll on Wednesday in a Kansas Class 5A girls quarterfinal game.

The Timberwolves led by eight points early in the fourth and held on for a 47-37 victory at the Kansas Expocentre.

So BV Southwest, which is only in its fifth year of existence, won its debut appearance in the Kansas state tournament.

“It is a great experience,” said BV Southwest junior Rilynne Like, who finished with a game-high 17 points. “The school spirit when we were leaving for our sendoff was beyond amazing.”

The Timberwolves, 17-6, will take on No. 1 seed St. Thomas Aquinas at 3 p.m. Friday in a semifinal.

One key stretch for the Timberwolves occurred midway through the third quarter. Like, a 5-foot-5 guard, was clobbered by a player 6 inches taller than her on a rebound attempt.

Like fell hard on her back. She quickly got up, raced down the court and drilled a three-pointer that gave BV Southwest its first double-digit lead of the game at 26-16 with 4 minutes, 45 seconds left in the third quarter.

“It hurt a lot,” Like said. “The three-pointer felt really good. I wasn’t sure it was going in, but when it did, it really picked up the tempo. Our team definitely took off and went with it. It was really a team effort how we finished the game.”

Bishop Carroll closed to within 39-35 with 3:10 left. BV Southwest answered 10 seconds later with two free throws by Like. BV Southwest made 11 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal its victory.

This story was originally published March 11, 2015 at 6:47 PM with the headline "Third-quarter surge propels BV Southwest girls to 10-point victory."