By Don Ketchum

The shot left the fingertips just as the overtime buzzer sounded. It seemed frozen in time as the frenzied crowd at Jobing.com Arena waited to see if it would go in the basket.

The ball bounced off the backboard and the rim, and Winslow survived with a 48-47 victory over Tuba City in a Division III semifinal game on Friday (Feb. 24).

Winslow, the seventh seed, has a chance to add another to its long list of titles. The tradition carried through for more than two decades under now-retired coach Don Petranovich, who led the Lady Bulldogs to seven titles and eight runners-up trophies from 1989-2010.

Winslow (24-5) will meet top-seeded Page or No. 13 Camp Verde for the championship on Saturday (Feb. 25) at Jobing.com. Tuba City finished 24-7 as the No. 14 seed.

It appeared that Winslow had the game sewed up in regulation on a pair of free throws by Corey Nez with eight seconds left.

But Tuba City’s Vernene Sheppard, with ice water running through her veins, drowned out the boisterous Winslow section and hit three free throws after being fouled beyond the 3-point arc with 1.9 seconds left.

It was back and forth in the four-minute overtime. Winslow took a pair of two-point leads but Tuba City’s Kristin Becenti drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give her team a 47-46 lead with 56 seconds left.

Tuba City stole the ball and had a chance to increase the lead but missed a shot. Winslow rebounded and was fouled.

Shandin Armao made two free throws with 39.2 seconds left to make it 48-47.

Winslow missed the front end of a one-and-one attempt with 6.7 seconds left. Tuba City’s Jaime Roe rebounded and drove the length of the floor, letting the shot go from the right side, about 15 feet away.

It didn’t go and Roe, who played a brilliant game, dropped to the floor underneath the basket, emotion draining from her. Winslow players jumped for joy as Tuba City players consoled each other. The two had split two games during the regular season.

“I was hoping the (last) shot wouldn’t go in, obviously,’’ said Winslow coach Jerron Jordan. “You have to tip your hat to Tuba City. They played extremely hard and so did we.’’

He said Petranovich built a strong tradition, “and I am trying to sustain it. We just have to realize that this wasn’t the championship. We have one more game.’’

Mattea Begaii scored 14 points to lead Winslow and Nez had 12.

Roe finished with 17 points, 19 rebounds, four assists, four blocked shots and five steals.