Mexico's Mya Miller (23) puts up a shot from close range during a Class 4 District 8 semifinal game against Kirksville on Tuesday night in Mexico. [David Pickering/For the Ledger]

A seemingly safe seven-point lead had dwindled down to two for Kirksville girls basketball in the final minute of the Class 4 District 8 semifinals Tuesday night.

The home Mexico crowd was on its feet, and all the pressure in the world seemed to fall on the shoulders of Kirksville’s Elyse Johnson.

But Johnson, one of Kirksville’s most experienced players, was not fazed by the moment.

She calmly sank a pair of free throws to give the Tigers more breathing room. After Mexico missed a 3-pointer, it was Corinne Vorkink’s turn to step to the line and hit a pair of freebies, leading the Tigers to a 37-32 upset victory.

No. 4 seed Kirksville is scheduled to face third-seeded Warrenton in the district championship Thursday night.

Top-seeded Mexico ends the season with a 17-7 record.

Tigers coach Nick Totta wasn’t necessarily pleased by the low-scoring affair, but for a team that has dropped a handful of close games this season, including two to Mexico by a combined three points, it was certainly acceptable.

The game was a grind the whole way. The two teams combined to score just 23 points in the first half, with Mexico leading 13-10 at intermission.

Kirksville went up by seven late in the fourth quarter before Mexico fought back.

The Bulldogs forced two turnovers thanks to a ferocious full-court press, converting them into buckets and cutting the lead back down to a single basket.

Reghan Smith hit a 3 for Mexico, and after the Bulldogs promptly forced a turnover, Mya Miller grabbed an offensive rebound and converted the putback.

Suddenly, Kirksville was on its heels.

“We’ve talked about it all year, closing out games,” Totta said. “It’s been a process, and there’s been times this year where we have closed out games, and other times where we have not.”

In the end, it came down to the free throws, the ice-in-the-veins shots by Vorkink and Johnson in the closing moments.

Mexico entered Tuesday as the favorite to win the district bracket, at one point winning 10 of 11 through January and February.

However, the Bulldogs’ effort was simply riddled with too many mistakes for a postseason game.

Mexico lost despite recording 20 more shots than Kirksville, a statistic that Bulldogs coach Ed Costley pointed out after the season-ending loss.

“The effort, I think, was there,” Costley said. “I don’t know if we had any concentration with that effort. It just really came down to a lot of little things.

“We just missed too many shots.”

nav-oc Naviga Writer 2020-03-05T18:24:20Z false yes SPORTS By Matthew Antonic The Mexico Ledger