The Bowie Lady Rabbits kicked off district play on Tuesday with a clutch win against Holliday.
The Lady Rabbits won by the smallest margin 49-48 as they held on in the final seconds to get the win.
Early on it was the Lady Eagles who had the advantage. Holliday was breaking through Bowie’s trap, collapsing the defense before passing the ball to open shooters in the corner.
Holliday led 12-4 midway through the quarter and 19-9 later in the quarter. Besides making three 3-pointers, the Lady Eagles also were doing a good job using their size to grab offensive rebounds for putbacks.
The Lady Rabbits battled back to cut the lead to 19-13 before the quarter ended. Bowie did a good job getting to the free throw line, making all eight free throws. Taygon Jones scored eight of the team’s points.
Early in the second quarter the Lady Rabbits pulled to within one score 19-17, but unfortunately could not break through. While Jayci Logan scored eight points in the quarter, Bowie scored only 10 total points as a team.
Holliday cooled off from making outside shots, but were still scoring at a good pace while breaking through the Lady Rabbits halfcourt trap. The Lady Eagles lead was almost back to double-digits at halftime as Bowie trailed 32-23.
The Lady Rabbits stuck to their guns to keep trapping and the results finally started to show in the second half. While Holliday’s lead ball handler still broke through a couple of times, it started to cause problems.
Logan continued to score around the basket on close dribble pull-ups. Abbi Gamblin scored five points in the quarter as she got a 3-pointer to fall. Bowie made only two the whole game as the team did not shoot well from outside. Season Eudey completed an old-fashioned 3-point play to add to the team’s total.
The Lady Rabbits were back within one score down 40-37 heading into the fourth quarter.
Midway through the quarter Bowie took its first lead since the opening minutes of the game 43-42. Unfortunately, Holliday scored six points in the next minute and a half to take back the lead 48-43 with 2:31 left to play.
Logan cut the lead to one basket by making both her free throws 48-45, but the Lady Eagles cut a minute off the clock holding the ball before getting sent to the free throw line. They were perfect up to that point, but missed with 1:29 left in the game.
The Lady Rabbits quickly raced the ball up the floor off the rebound and Camberley Gunter scored on a layup with 1:17 left to cut the lead to 48-47.
Bowie was forced the foul Holliday again 20 seconds later and the Lady Eagles again missed the free throw. The Lady Rabbits then put the ball in Logan’s hands as she banked in a 10-foot shot with 37 seconds left in the game to give Bowie the lead 49-48.
The Lady Eagles got the ball past midcourt before calling a time out with 23 seconds left to set up the final play. A Holliday player drove to the basket and missed the contested layup.
Gunter had position on the rebound and went up to grab it, but a Lady Eagles player had her hand on the ball at the same time. The play ended with a jump ball call, giving possession back to Holliday underneath the basket with eight seconds left to play.
Many Bowie fans were furious and wanted an over the back foul called since the Lady Eagles player reached over Gunter’s head. It was one of a few late calls Lady Rabbit fans took issue with.
The Lady Eagles inbounded the ball into the corner. As the player picked up her dribble to look to pass, Jones swarmed her. She deflected an attempted pass, stealing the ball and sealing the win for Bowie.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.