The Bowie Lady Rabbits season came to an end Monday night as they lost a close one in overtime to Brock in their bi-district playoff game.
The Lady Eagles won 41-39 thanks to a basket in the final seconds.
It was a rematch between the two teams from the previous year’s bi-district game. In that one, the Lady Rabbits made clutch free throws in the final seconds to win the game.
Monday’s game was similar despite this year’s Bowie team being made up of almost all different players and coaches.
The first quarter Brock led for most of the time. The Lady Rabbits initially had trouble scoring against the Lady Eagles tough man-to-man defense early on.
Brock made a couple of 3-pointers that got Bowie out of its initial zone defense which meant dealing with the Lady Eagles better size when they attacked the paint was a full-team effort for the scrappy Lady Rabbits.
Bowie’s offense got a jolt when Ziba Robbins came off the bench and scored eight points in the quarter.
In the final seconds, a steal and layup from Addie Farris at the buzzer put the Lady Rabbits up 12-10 heading into the second quarter.
Most of the second quarter was a defensive struggle. Brock was turning the ball quite a bit and though it was drawing free throw attempts, the Lady Eagles did not have a great night shooting from the line.
A couple of turnovers allowed Bowie to score two baskets in a minute to go back up, but the score was tied 16-16 in the final few minutes. Maddie Mandela sunk a 3-pointer to give the Lady Rabbits a 19-16 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was easily the highest scoring of the game. Brock was able to finish more shots around the rim and even make a 3-pointer.
Fortunately, Bowie was able to keep its lead. Farris made two 3-pointers and Neely Price added another. Both Taygon Jones and Mandela made their free throws and the Lady Rabbits held a slim 32-29 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
After neither team had much luck scoring nearly the first half of the quarter, Bowie tried to stall to run time off the clock. Mandela’s two free throws gave the Lady Rabbits a 34-29 lead midway through.
Brock got two big 3-pointers from senior Hallie McPherson in the next minute that tied the score at 35-35 following a free throw from Price earlier.
With 1:31 left in the game, both teams’ chances to score missed and attempts to hold for the final shot were turned over. The Lady Eagles shot a corner 3-pointer with seconds to play that missed which sent the game to overtime.
Brock took the lead early with several inside drives to the basket that went in. A Robbins made free throw cut the lead to 39-36 heading into the final two minutes.
Mandela came through with a 3-pointer following an offensive rebound that tied the score at 39-39 with 50 seconds left.
Again both teams tried to hold for final shots, but turnovers or misses both ways eventually gave the ball to Brock with time to run one play. The Lady Eagles again found a way to finish through contact on a cut to the rim that also drew a foul. Brock missed its 10th free throw and Bowie got the rebound and called a timeout with five seconds left.
Underneath their own basket, the Lady Rabbits would have to dribble up the entire length of the court to get off better than a prayer of a shot.
After several time outs, Bowie did inbound the ball and was able to get all the way to the basket. Unfortunately, the ball handler lost control of the ball and it went out of bounds off the Lady Rabbits with less than a second left to seal the win for Brock 41-39.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.