WELDON SPRING –Madison Baird sometimes needs a gentle reminder to shoot.
The Timberland senior guard is an unselfish distributor of the ball and rarely looks to score herself.
“The funny thing is we want her to shoot. She’s always thinking pass first,” Timberland coach Brad Schellert said. “During a timeout, I said, ‘You have to shoot, too.’”
And she picked the perfect time to take him up on his offer.
Baird hit a huge three-pointer with under two minutes to play and senior Leah Wilmsmeyer sank the go-ahead basket as Timberland erased a 14-point deficit to defeat Francis Howell Central 36-33 in the Class 6 District 4 semifinals Saturday at Francis Howell High.
Timberland (19-9), which advanced to a district title game for the first time since 2004, will face Troy (19-9) to determine the District 6 champion at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Francis Howell.
Troy defeated Fort Zumwalt West 32-27 in the other semifinal.
For most of the game, the three-point line was a barren wasteland where possessions met their doom for Timberland. The Wolves connected on just 2-of-15 shots from behind the arc before sophomore Alysse Lamb banked in a desperation heave from the left wing at the third-quarter buzzer.
Lamb’s prayer kick-started a 17-2 run to end the game for Timberland, created mainly in the paint.
Aggressive drives through the lane resulted in baskets, free throws or both, and after seniors Lexi Wilmsmeyer and Claire Markovich connected on putbacks, the Wolves had sliced the deficit to four points.
“We weren’t being aggressive against their defense, and in the fourth quarter, we changed that,” Schellert said.
A scramble for an offensive rebound eventually found Baird, who did not hesitate. Her pure, right-wing triple occurred right in front of her bench, sent her teammates into a frenzy and cut the deficit to 33-32 with 1 minute 53 seconds remaining.
It was her only basket of the game.
“It was a big shot, and I think it helped boost our team into thinking, ‘We got this,’” Baird said.
After a forced turnover on a Howell Central inbounds pass, Leah Wilmsmeyer saw the finish line. She accepted a pass at the top of the key, took two hard dribbles, rose in the air and sank a 14-footer to put Timberland ahead for the first time in the game with 46 seconds to play.
Two strong defensive rebounds in traffic by Leah’s twin sister Lexi Wilmsmeyer closed out an improbable victory and sent Timberland to its first district championship appearance in 19 years.
“That (comeback) took a lot of heart. We worked hard for this season, and we didn’t want it to end,” said Leah Wilmsmeyer, who led the Wolves with 15 points.
Francis Howell Central (19-8) employed a 1-3-1 zone defense that clogged the interior and invited Timberland to shoot deep perimeter shots. While the Wolves missed threes, the Spartans scored 13 consecutive points and took a 21-11 lead into halftime.
“Timberland is a dynamic team that can fill it up in bunches. The (1-3-1) definitely had an impact. They were still getting quite a few threes, they just didn’t connect,” Francis Howell Central coach Hayley Leake said.
Sophomore Audrey Blaine led the Spartans with 11 points and senior Briana Mason added 10, as both found mid-range, jump shots available. With sophomore Riley Henderson organizing the offense and delivering assists, Francis Howell Central built a 27-13 lead midway through the third quarter.
But Markovich found room to maneuver along the baseline, found open players in the paint and gave the Wolves another avenue of attack.
“I was just trying to get the ball inside so I could pass it out,” Markovich said.
One of those passes allowed Leah Wilmsmeyer to connect on a three-point play in the lane. Soon after, Wilmsmeyer drained a 3 off an inbounds play, and when Lamb banked in the buzzer-beater to close the third quarter, the furious fourth-quarter rally was set in motion.
Timberland earned its 19th win of the season, matching the total of the 2003-04 team. The senior class endured two rough seasons before going 14-14 last season, and it wants to cement its legacy as one of the best teams from Timberland by hoisting a district championship trophy on Tuesday.
“It’s more personal for the seniors. We were here when we haven’t won, and we’ve worked for this,” Leah Wilmsmeyer said. “To be able to climb back when were down by so much makes it even better.”