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Hempfield sophomore guard Brianna Neal had a grand total of 2 points Friday.
But the one bucket she sank for the Black Knights sent shockwaves through the L-L League Section 1 race, which got yet another facelift, thanks to a game that tipped off at 4 p.m. so the teams could get out of Millersville before the heavy flakes started coming down.
Playing in the only game not postponed by the snowy forecast, Neal — in the game as a sub because Hempfield coach Lenny Groft was riding a good hunch — drove the length of the floor and hit an off-balance layup with 3 seconds to go in the second overtime period, lifting the Knights to wild and wonderfully wacky 53-52 double-OT win over Penn Manor.
So the Comets' three-day journey as sole leader in the Section 1 race is kaput.
Pay attention here; this might get a little nutty:
Hempfield, which won for the seventh time in its last eight games, has moved into a first-place tie with Penn Manor.
The Knights and the Comets are both 10-4 in league games, and sit ½-game ahead of Cedar Crest and Manheim Township, which are both 9-4.
The Falcons' and the Blue Streaks' games were postponed by the snow Friday, and they'll both be in action on Monday — Cedar Crest will host McCaskey and Manheim Township is at Hempfield.
Cedar Crest must play a makeup game against Warwick and Manheim Township must play a makeup game against McCaskey, both on Tuesday.
The regular season wraps up Wednesday, with Cedar Crest at Penn Manor, Hempfield at McCaskey and Warwick at Manheim Township.
Should the race end in a tie — and that's starting to look like a distinct possibility — a one-game playoff would decide the winner.
Buckle up.
"I think our kids will learn from this and I think they'll bounce back," Penn Manor coach Bobby Graybill said. "We're still tied for first place, so anything can happen. We have to win two games next week, starting with Warwick. We can't even be thinking about Cedar Crest (on Wednesday)."
Hempfield is also tied for the lead, and the Knights took the long and winding road to get to the top.
Hempfield dropped back-to-back league crossovers right out the chute, falling to Section 2 co-leaders Solanco (59-51 on Dec. 18) and Lebanon (48-45 on Dec. 21) to slip two games behind the Section 1 leaders in the first week of league play.
But the Knights have really hung tough, and have now won seven league games in a row.
Hempfield's lone loss since Jan. 13 was a 46-43 OT setback to Daniel Boone in a non-league game on Jan. 30.
Hempfield needed a pair of overtime periods to survive Penn Manor on Friday. And the Comets came out scorching, taking an early 8-point lead and then closing the first quarter on an 8-1 run to grab a 14-7 cushion.
"This was as much about perseverance as anything," Hempfield coach Lenny Groft said. "They came out with a lot of energy and jumped on us early with an 8-point lead. It took us a little while to get settled down.
"It was about staying calm and relaxed. We talked about playing with passion, but we didn't want emotions getting in the way."
The Knights (13-7 overall) warmed to the task in the second quarter when Jordyn Newsome drilled a 3-pointer and Elle Larsen had a couple of buckets in the paint.
Hempfield outscored Penn Manor 11-9 in the quarter and the Comets were ahead 23-18 at the break.
Hempfield kept building momentum in the third quarter, using a 14-8 run to take its first lead, 32-31, when Kendra Beittel drilled a 3-pointer with three ticks to go in the period.
Penn Manor got some bad news early in the fourth quarter, when leading scorer Bianca Ygarza fouled out on Hempfield's first possession. She scored 9 points and grabbed 9 rebounds before fouling out with 7:46 to play in regulation.
The Comets (15-5) were also without starter Katie Breneman, who is out of town on a field hockey trip. So Penn Manor played the whole game without her, and the final quarter and two overtime periods without Ygarza.
Undaunted, the Comets hung in there.
Julie Falk hit a 3-pointer and had two baskets in the key in the fourth quarter. The trey knotted the game at 34-all with 4:51 to go in regulation.
The Comets and the Knights were deadlocked at 40 after regulation and shuffled off to OT, where Hempfield grabbed a 45-40 lead and sure looked like it had the game sewn up.
But Falk hit a deep 3-pointer to slice Hempfield's lead to 46-44 with 28.7 seconds to go.
Then things got really interesting.
Trailing 47-44 with 3.3 seconds to go, Falk was fouled on a 3-point attempt from beyond the top of the key.
Hempfield called a timeout to ice her, but it didn't work.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
Falk coolly and calmly drained all three freebies to tie it at 47 and force a second OT.
There, Penn Manor was milking a 52-51 lead with time running out, and Alicia Ygarza was fouled. She missed her first shot and Hempfield called timeout to ice her a little more.
That's when Groft decided to put Neal in the game.
Hempfield's backcourt duo of Shauna Walters and Beittel had both fouled out, so the Knights' coach needed a player who could handle the rock and run the court.
So he hurried Neal into the game before Ygarza's second shot.
"We had to get her to the table in a hurry just to get her in the game," Groft said.
The move paid off.
"After she missed the first shot, we didn't need a 3-pointer, and because Shauna and Kendra were out, we needed another ball-handler in there," Groft said.
"And when she missed the second shot, they attacked the rebounder (Ali Hartman) with three kids, so I don't think they knew who had Bri. So she took the pass, dribbled right down the court and got a shot."
Which went in, giving Hempfield a 53-52 lead.
Penn Manor did advance the ball, which found its way into Falk's hands. Her desperation heave was off and the Knights survived.
"We had some growing pains there at the end," Graybill said. "We had some missed foul shots and we had some turnovers. It hurts, but that's the way it goes.
"Both teams came in here hot, and this was a great game that went down to the very last possession. You can't ask for anything more than that. And I couldn't have asked anymore from my kids."
NOTES — Hartman, who grabbed the key D rebound and made the outlet pass to Neal for her mad dash, had 11 points and three boards, and Larsen had 11 points and a team-high 11 rebounds for Hempfield. … Penn Manor out-rebounded Hempfield 44-33. … Each team had 17 turnovers. … Ashley Vellucci added 9 points and 5 rebounds for Penn Manor. … Alicia Ygarza had a team-high 11 rebounds for the Comets.
Sports writer Jeffrey Reinhart can be reached at jreinhart@LNPnews.com or 291-8777.
