In Iowa, they’re calling it ‘The Ava Smid Game’ after a high school girls basketball player put the team on her back and came out with a shocking result.
Smid’s Dallas Center-Grimes team was down 42-36 in the final 40 seconds of their Class 4A state championship semifinal game against Norwalk High School.
Down six points, Smid knocked through a layup to reduce the deficit to four points.
Norwalk then turned the ball over – leading to a Dallas Center-Grimes inbound to Smid, who laid it in to cut the deficit to two points.
On the ensuing Norwalk inbound, Smid stole the ball and put up a high shot off the glass that fell in to tie the game.
If that wasn’t enough shock and awe, Smid pulled off the unthinkable and stole the inbound pass again and scored while drawing a foul to give Dallas Center-Grimes their first lead of the game with just 19 seconds left.
Dallas Center-Grimes’ Ava Smid (R) put the team on her back in a stunning comeback victory
Smid scored eight points in a 21 second span to turn a six-point deficit to a two-point lead
The crowd at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines – and the commentators on the broadcasts – collectively lost their minds at Smid’s outburst.
While Smid missed the free throw, her performance single-handedly led her school to a 47-42 win and a spot in their division’s state championship game.
‘It was the quickest six points I’ve ever witnessed in my life, just crazy,’ said DCG coach Adam Jones (via the Des Moines Register).
‘I mean, Norwalk, they were fantastic, and we just found a way in the end. I’m just so proud of our girls, and I’m speechless.’
Fans on social media were agog over the result: ‘This is exactly why people love March basketball. Crazy endings like this make the game unforgettable,’ wrote one user.
Another posted, ‘High school ball giving us the most unscripted March Madness content and I am not complaining one bit.’
‘Those poor Norwalk girls will never ever forget those few seconds,’ one comment read.
