The third time was the charm for the Community R-6 girls on Thursday.

Community R-6 girls, boys vs New Franklin Photo Gallery

The Lady Trojans had already lost two overtime games this season but won their double-overtime battle with Central Activities Conference foe New Franklin 72-68 at home. Community trailed by as many as 12 points in the third quarter but dropped 23 points in the fourth quarter, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Peyton Beamer to tie the game, to force overtime.

“It made me very pumped and excited,” Beamer said. “I really wasn’t expecting it to go in because it rolled in, rolled out but then it rolled back in so we’re good.”

Beamer was Community’s answer to New Franklin (7-9, 2-3 CAC) star point guard Lily Chitwood, who finished with a game-high 33 points, since the sophomore in her first season as a full starter scored a career-high 26 points, tallied six assists and knocked down five 3-pointers. She hadn’t hit a bigger 3-pointer until that shot that tied the game at 56 to send it into the first extra period.

“I was scared but then got really excited when it went in,” Beamer said. “I was jumping up and down with my teammates. We were all very happy and excited.”

Head coach Bob Curtis said he has been involved with so many overtime games in his 23 years as a coach — all but four with Community — that he isn’t sure if three are a season-record for him. However, the three overtime games by Jan. 18 probably is a personal-high.

Thursday’s game was the Lady Trojans’ second double-overtime game and the first happened in another conference game at home against Sturgeon. In fact, both of Community’s losses in this recent nine-game stretch were both in overtime since the Lady Trojans (9-5, 3-1 CAC) also dropped a single-overtime contest to double-digit winner Fayette. 

Curtis said his team closed out better to finally earn the marathon victory. After missing 11 combined free throws in the fourth quarter and the first overtime period, the Lady Trojans nailed 4-of-5 in the second extra period, and Brooklynn Glasgow made three of those shots to add to her night of 10 points and six rebounds.

“Brooklynn Glasgow is shooting 72 percent from the free-throw line, and she hit a lot of big free throws down the stretch there,” Curtis said. “It would have been a lot more comfortable game if we hit those free throws (earlier), but she hit her free throws.”

Community didn’t earn many second-chance scoring opportunities throughout the game until Kylie Brooks and Chloe Johnson put back some shots in the second-overtime period to give the Lady Trojans some breathing room. Johnson capped a 3-point play in that final period while Brooks recorded yet another double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds to go with two blocks.

But Community wouldn’t have made it to that point if it weren’t for Beamer being clutch from the perimeter. When the Lady Trojans were down by 12 points in the third quarter, Beamer hit back-to-back 3-pointers to help them climb back in quickly and then scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, including the play Curtis said they set up for Beamer in the final seconds of regulation.

“We were struggling offensively tonight,” Curtis said. “From the perimeter, we didn’t make much. We had to get Peyton involved. She got several runout layups, and just in the second half, she put a lot of pressure on Chitwood.”

Curtis became concerned when Beamer went down to the court in the second overtime period. Beamer, later on, said she has battled cramping in her legs before in the summer and had to have a roller applied to them to alleviate the pain after playing so many minutes. It’s “bound to happen” sometimes when so much basketball is played, Curtis said, so he was happy how Beamer’s teammates carried on the rest of the way.

After Beamer played to the point of not being able to stand, she rested on the bench and saw the Lady Trojans achieve victory and was clearly back to normal as she was jumping up and down with her teammates yet again.

“(Coach Curtis) says somebody has to take over the game so I try to drive it to get a foul call or drive and then kick it, and it usually gets us and-ones or just a foul to make our free throws,” Beamer said. “I’ve been struggling to hit my 3s too so this was a very good game for my 3s.”

New Franklin had trouble defending Beamer, and Community struggled defending Chitwood. Curtis said it’s not simple to figure out a defensive plan for her.

“She is a phenomenal basketball player and one of the best in our conference,” Curtis said. “We threw all kinds of exotic defense — junk, zone, man — at her and she still had 33. Lily was on a mission to beat us tonight, and luckily, Peyton had a game that just matched hers and everybody else decided who won.”

Curtis said the steal that was secured by Glasgow before she hit free throws to put Community ahead by two possessions late in the second overtime period was defense that still paid special attention to Chitwood, who hit the game-tying shot to force the second overtime. Lydia Burnett, who had eight points after scoring in double figures in the first meeting this season the Lady Trojans won, was the one who touched the ball for New Franklin before giving it up.

“They had someone else bringing the ball up because we had four kids in zone and one chasing Chitwood,” Curtis said. “They ran a couple screeners there about the 3-point line and tried to pass to one of those screeners. They gave Burnett the ball to pass to a screener, we ran through it and just saw an opportunity to pick it, and that was a huge play for us.”

Community opens the Sturgeon tournament at 7:30 p.m. Monday against Paris (4-11) in the high school gym.