Westminster Alone in First After Winning on Last Shot

Janet Glasby’s short bank shot with five seconds remaining lifted Westminster to a 43-41 victory over Tustin in a Golden West League girls’ basketball game Thursday at Westminster.

The basket capped a frenetic fourth-quarter comeback by the Lions, who trailed by six points midway through the final quarter. The victory placed Westminster (18-4, 5-0) alone atop the league standings, one game ahead of the Tillers (15-4, 4-1).

The final play was set up during a Westminster timeout with 27 seconds remaining. The Lions passed the ball around the perimeter as the seconds ticked off, then tossed the ball to Glasby, who spun and banked the ball in.

“We wanted to wait until the last shot,” Glasby said, “so we didn’t have to play defense again.”

Westminster benefited down the stretch from the absence of Tustin’s leading scorer and rebounder, Brook Brown, who fouled out with 1:56 remaining and the Tillers holding a one-point lead.

Westminster tied the score with a free throw after Brown’s fifth foul, but the Tillers went back ahead, 41-38, on a fast-break layup by Jackie Williams and a free throw by Susana Jara with 1:09 remaining.

After Tustin turned over the ball in its backcourt, Westminster called timeout then drew up a play Westminster Coach Dick Katz has used many times before.

The ball was inbounded to Tara Moore along the baseline and she headed straight for the basket. Halfway between the basket and three-point line she leaped and passed the ball to the opposite side, where Joana Trujillo sank the wide-open three-pointer, tying the score, 41-41.

“That out-of-bounds play, we’ve been running that thing for about 15 years here at Westminster,” Katz said. “This group has not run it well. That was the first time all year they executed it. I said at the timeout, ‘Gosh darn it, if you ever run this thing right this year, do it now.’ ”