Cuba High School’s girls’ basketball team fell in a highly contested overtime battle against Hermann on Jan. 22 and are now 12-5 on the season.

The Lady Cats’ game on Jan. 26 versus Chamois was canceled due to inclement weather and will not be rescheduled. Cuba will now play a stretch of seven straight games on the road, beginning on Jan. 30 in Hillsboro against Grandview. The Lady Cats will play the following day on Jan. 31 in Steelville as part of Steelville’s own Pink Out Night, honoring locals who are battling cancer. Cuba will then play in St. Clair on Feb. 2 before playing in Salem on Feb. 9.

Jan. 22 vs. Hermann

The Lady Cats played in a low scoring defensive battle against the Hermann Lady Bearcats where points were fought for and earned. Cuba trailed 7-5 after the first quarter, but bounced back with a strong offensive output in the second. The Lady Cats outscored the Lady Bearcats 13-9 in the second period and went into halftime leading 18-16.

Cuba looked like they were going to pull away in the third frame, as they topped Hermann 11-4 in the quarter and headed into the final frame up 29-20. But the Lady Bearcats played tenacious defense in the fourth quarter, and held Cuba scoreless. Hermann scored nine straight points to tie the game up at 29. Both teams had a chance to win with less than 15 seconds left, but each team turned the ball over without a shot attempt and the game went to overtime.

Hermann began overtime on a 5-1 run and led 34-30 with 1:35 remaining. Cuba junior Annica Farris went to the free throw line and calmly drained a pair of free throws to make it a 2-point game. The score would stay the same until the Lady Bearcats would add one more point on a free throw to make it 35-32. The Lady Cats had one last chance to tie it, but went for a two-pointer, which rimmed out, and Hermann came away with the victory. The Cuba Free Press was unable to obtain statistics for this game.