February 26, 2022 | by Taylor Pill

LEAD

WATERTOWN, Wis. -- In a championship to remember, the Sabercats had their hearts broken on their home floor by a dying-seconds winner from Trinity Bible College in the North Region Championship.

The #2-seeded Lions took home a 66-64 win over Maranatha, capturing their first-ever North Region title. In her last game for Maranatha, Callie Morrison logged a season-high 30 points and 14 rebounds

OVERVIEW

• Result: #4 Maranatha 64-66 #2 Trinity
• Venue: Maranatha Baptist University
• Event: NCCAA North Region Championship
• Location: Watertown, Wis.
• Attendance: 215
• Records: MBU (7-17), TBC (18-7) 

STORY 

Regional championships make things just as unpredictable as they are exciting, as the pressure of the postseason comes to a climax. Katelyn Morrison stepped right up to settle things down, as she continued her hot streak by starting the game with 10 points in the first quarter, giving Maranatha the upper hand 16-10. 

Trinity stayed the course after a slow start, as they scored late in the first before responding with a 16-11 advantage in the second. 

This one had all the makings of a true region championship, and at halftime, it was 27-26 Maranatha.

A 13-8 rebounding advantage helped the Sabercats out-play the Lions in the third quarter just a little, as they edged out to a three-point lead with 10 minutes to go. The Lions were starting to target Callie, forcing her to just 2-7 shooting in the third. It was a one-possession game going into the fourth and it felt like it.

The final act was a fight to remember, as the North Region Championship was decided in the final two minutes. Callie was doing everything she could to keep Maranatha in it, coming up with 13 points just when things mattered most. Callie had a three-point play to make it a one-point game, then tied things up with a three-pointer all in a span of 30 seconds.

In a wild final minute, the Sabercats had the ball with eight seconds left. Down by one. Callie was fouled on the inbounds pass and stepped up to the line with the weight of the season on her shoulders.

Tie game. After missing the first, she made no mistake on the second, and the North Region Championship came down to the final possession.

Chalk it up to, "it happens to the best of them," as the Lions executed their final play with just three seconds on the clock to put themselves up by two. The Sabercats were out of time and out of timeouts, as the Lions put the finishing touches on North Region ecstasy, and North Region agony for Callie and MBU.

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Maranatha Starters: 3- C. Morrison, 13- Teachout, 20- Rogers, 25- K. Morrison, 32- J. Brown // Trinity starters: 1- Anderson, 2- De Campos, 5- Molan, 10- G. West, 32- S. West

STATS

• Callie: 30 PTS, 14 REB, 5 AST, 5 STL, 5 BLK
• Katelyn: 18 PTS, 7 REB, 2 STL
• Last time: Trinity won 62-56 in January
• Series: Maranatha and Trinity met in the 2018 North Region Championship
• Series: Maranatha leads the all-time series 2-1

OPPONENTS

• Trinity had qualified for the North Region Championship just once before - in 2018
• Trinity earned the #1 seed after finishing the regular season 16-7

NEXT

A full recap of the season will be coming at mbusabercats.com.