For the first time in 15 years, the Grayson Vikings are playing for a Region V Championship.
After trailing for much of the first half, the offense for Grayson came alive in the second half to defeat No. 17 McLennan 68-60 for the third time this season.
The Highlassies of McLennan were on fire to start as they started the game on a 12-2 scoring run, as their only offense for the first five minutes was a layup by Jaycee Ingram. After a timeout, the offense started to get going. Ingram sank a pair of free throws and Lily Melton answered a McLennan three with a layup of her own to cut the deficit to 15-6. Dree Johnson made a pair of free throws to pull the Vikings within 15-14 and cap a 12-3 scoring run of their own to climb right back into the game. Johnson's three with 30 seconds left in the quarter tied the game up at 19-19, completely erasing the double digit deficit to start the game.
The second quarter was tight with neither team leading by more than two. Johnson split a pair of free throws to tie the game at 28, but McLennan closed the half on a 7-0 run to put Grayson in a 35-28 deficit at the half.
McLennan extended the Grayson deficit to nine at 37-28 with a basket early in the third quarter, but Grayson began to mount another comeback. Susan Fahnbulleh had nearly half of the team's 26 points in the third quarter. She shot 4/5 from the field in the quarter and made all her free throws. She tied things up at 43 with a three point play with 4:54 left in the quarter. After trading baskets to tie thing at 45, the Vikings closed the quarter on a 9-0 run, capped by a Ingram layup to take a 54-45 lead.
The run continued into the fourth quarter. Fahnbulleh made a layup and Fia Filoialii helped the Vikings open a 58-46 lead, which was their largest of the game with 7:41 remaining in the game. McLennan scored just one point from the 3:20 mark of the third quarter until getting a layup from Charnelle Hoof with 7:08 remaining in the fourth quarter, as the Viking defense took center stage. The Vikings maintained their large lead throughout the fourth quarter, answering everything McLennan threw at them. The Highlassies cut it to six with 2:14 to play, but Fahnbulleh made a pair of free throws to go back up by eight as the Vikings closed things out, sending them to the Region V Championship on Saturday.
Fahnbulleh led the way with 18 points, while Ingram had a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, also adding three steals. Fahnbulleh and Ingram combined to go 17-17 from the free throw line, as the Vikings shot 83.9% from the charity stripe.
Grayson (27-3) will meet up with No. 8 Clarendon (30-2)on Saturday afternoon. With a win, Grayson will clinch an automatic berth in the NJCAA National Tournament, as they continue to make history. The last time the Vikings won a regular season title outright, a Region V Championship and made the National Tournament was the 2010-11 season when they finished 32-4.
