Feb. 26, 2011

LAS VEGAS - Louisiana Tech women's basketball signee Courtney Hayes ended her prep career in fine fashion Friday night leading Centennial High School (Las Vegas) to the Nevada Class 4A state title with a 71-65 overtime win over Liberty at the Orleans Arena.

Hayes, a 5-foot-7-inch point guard, came up big for the Bulldogs scoring 16 points, including a pair of free throws with 30 seconds remaining in regulation that sent the game into the extra period.

With the victory, Centennial won its sixth state title in the last 10 years. "Courtney Hayes has been telling me that this was how it was going to end," Centennial coach Karen Weitz said. "Usually what Courtney Hayes says is the way it goes." With Centennial (32-1) trailing 55-50 with less than two minutes to play in regulation, Hayes steal and transition layup started an 8-3 run that ended regulation.

"I'm a senior, and I have to step up in these types of games, because they're going to look for you for guidance," Hayes said. "This was our moment. We don't panic. This is what we practice for, the overtime games."

Hayes was all over the floor, disrupting passes, knocking balls away and generally being a pest to Liberty (27-3).

"A lot of times we weren't playing well together tonight," Weitz said. "Courtney knows what I want and what I need. She just put people on her back."

The Patriots were within 66-65 after Tia Chai made two free throws with 53 seconds left in overtime, but they didn't score again, and Hayes and Klemz combined to make 5 of 6 free throws in the final 35.5 seconds.