NEW BLOOMFIELD - A show of Faith shattered the New Bloomfield Lady Wildcats' impeccable home winning streak and ended their season.
Iberia senior guard Faith Duncan delivered 20 of her game-high 28 points in the second half - 11 triggering a pivotal third-quarter comeback - as the No. 3 seed Lady Rangers jolted No. 1 New Bloomfield 53-51 in the Class 2, District 8 girls' championship Friday night.
The Lady Wildcats - finishing at 19-9 and falling for the first time in 11 home games this season - were playing in their third consecutive district title game, but lost for the second straight time. New Bloomfield bowed to Tipton for the District 8 championship last year at Russellville.
"I don't have an answer," Lady Wildcats head coach Brett Craighead said. "I'm going to say we were just a little young and not used to the moment, maybe.
"It is what it is. Here's the good thing - we've got everybody back next year. (The girls) were disappointed but I told them they've got nothing to be ashamed of - they fought hard and we had a great season."
Meanwhile, Iberia (15-13) - which also knocked off No. 2 seed Tipton in the semifinals - captured its first-ever district title. The Lady Rangers now move on to Class 2 sectional play at Jefferson City High School on Wedensday night and will face the winner of Saturday's District 7 championship between New Franklin and Harrisburg.
New Bloomfield let a 13-point advantage slip away in the third quarter Friday night and trailed 38-36 to start the fourth, but responded with a 10-4 run to go back in front. Junior forward Madison Love hit two free throws with 2 minutes, 33 seconds remaining to give the Lady Wildcats a 46-42 edge.
But like she did all night, Duncan broke down New Bloomfield's defense again with dribble drives. She darted into the lane and scored on consecutive Iberia possessions, sandwiched around a turnover by the Lady Wildcats, to tie the game with 1:51 to play.
Senior forward Madison Luttrell then knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:16 left to put the Lady Rangers back in front at 49-46. When New Bloomfield couldn't come up with a foul to stop the clock, Luttrell's basket underneath with :26 to go made it a five-point game.
Sophomore guard Madi Craighead countered with a fast basket on New Bloomfield's next possession and the Lady Wildcats called a timeout with :13.8 remaining. After Duncan converted the back end of a pair of free throws with :11.9 left to make it 52-48, Craighead made the first of two free throws with :07.2 to play.
Love was able to collect Craighead's miss and was fouled on a shot, knocking down both free throws to bring New Bloomfield within 52-51 with :05.3 to go. Junior forward Raegan Stiebel then made a free throw for Iberia with :00.9 remaining but missed the second on purpose in an attempt to run out the clock.
The Lady Wildcats grabbed the rebound and quickly called a timeout with :00.3 left, but Love's inbound pass to the other end of the court sailed out of bounds. The Lady Rangers exhausted what little time was remaining to lock up the District 8 title.
"We just made a couple of bad mistakes, forced some shots that we didn't need to take," Brett Craighead said. "You hate to hold them back, but I just thought we made a couple of bad decisions at the wrong time."
New Bloomfield went into halftime with a 28-19 lead and appeared to be poised to pull away when Madi Craighead buried a 3-pointer in front of the student section at the 5:33 mark of the third quarter to make it 33-21. Iberia, though, answered with a 13-0 run - driven mostly by Duncan - to deflate the Lady Wildcats' momentum.
Duncan initiated the outburst with a 3 and capped it off with another venture into the lane to put the Lady Rangers on top at 34-33 with 1:55 left in the quarter. Her steal and layup with :24.5 remaining sent Iberia to the fourth quarter with its two-point edge.
Of Duncan's scoring total, 20 points came off penetration in exploiting New Bloomfield's interior defense.
"She's hard to guard," Brett Craighead said. "We were trying to guard her and we got up too close and then we let her drive, and then our help (defense) kind of let us down.
"She's a senior, she's wanting it and she's a good player. She kind of took the game over."
Madi Craighead - who sat out all but the opening 4:48 of the first half after picking up two quick fouls - tallied 16 of her team-high 18 points in the second half to pace the Lady Wildcats. Junior guard Kate Baxter added 11 points, including three 3-pointers, and freshman center Samantha Haas came off the bench to contribute 10 points.
Despite placing three players in double figures, New Bloomfield shot a miserable 21 percent (13-of-62) as a team.
"They did a good job of stopping our inside game," Brett Craighead said. "We were trying to get that skip pass from the short corner and we were missing it, then we would get another pass and we just didn't hit the shot."
Luttrell also supplied 16 points for the Lady Rangers, who shot just 33 percent (20-of-60) from the field.