BonnerSprings.com

When the Bonner Springs Bravettes have a lead in the fourth quarter, there is little doubt about who is going to have the ball in her hands.

On Friday night at Turner High School, senior guard Lynsey Ostman held the ball until she was fouled over and over again and put the game out of reach by knocking down high-pressure free throws on the way to a 42-33 girls basketball victory.

With 1:15 remaining in the game, Ostman sank seven of eight free throw attempts to ice the game.

“It gives me confidence when (coach Clay Oakes) says that I should have the ball down the stretch,” Ostman said. “When my team has confidence in me it is kind of like a chain reaction and it gives me confidence to make (free throws).”

Ostman is so confident at the line right now that in practice she concentrates on not missing more than one in a row, so when it comes to game time she is comfortable in any pressure situation.

“I don’t know if it is because I am getting older, but now when I miss a free throw I know exactly what it was that I did wrong and it is easier to correct,” she said.

The Bravettes led at halftime, 16-13. They could have been ahead by a few more points, but they could not knock down open shots — many times the ball was half way down the hoop before popping out.

“We felt like we played hard the entire game,” Oakes said. “We only had six turnovers in the first half and had a lot of open looks, but we just couldn’t get them to fall.”

It was the first time all year that BSHS held a lead at halftime.

The third quarter was different for the Bravettes. They were still getting open looks, but the shots started to fall.

Junior guard Erica Smith drained two 3-point baskets and Ostman nailed a long 2-pointer to give the Bravettes a 32-24 lead as the third quarter came to an end. Turner cut into the lead during the fourth quarter, but Ostman was too much from the charity stripe.

“Nobody was hitting until we hit those shots,” Ostman said. “We think it got the momentum on our side and it carried throughout the end of the game.”

Oakes said he thought the pair of treys lifted Smith out of an early-season shooting slump. If that’s the case, he said, then it should bode well for the team in future games.

“I think hitting those threes gave her some confidence back,” Oakes said.

He thinks that maybe some of his team’s shooting woes have come from playing in its home gym only once in the entire season.

“We are excited to come back after break and play in our gym where we know we shoot the ball well,” Oakes said. “We aren’t where we wanted to be. We thought we had a chance for a better record at the break, but we are going to build on this victory and what we established tonight.”

Ostman scored 12 points, Smith had 10 and sophomore Erica Wilson added 6.

Bonner Springs is 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the Kaw Valley League.

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