Homewood-Flossmoor’s Jemiyah McDonald hit two half-court shots in a 24-hour span.

The first came Friday when the Vikings worked out before the Hillcrest Holiday Classic semifinals. H-F coach Anthony Smith told his team practice would end after someone hit a half-court shot.

“Two of our guards shot first and missed,” McDonald said. “I was up next and ended up making it on the first try. Before the game, he said we were playing Bolingbrook and we were going to be in a situation where we would need a half-court shot.”

Smith was wrong. H-F didn’t need a half-court shot against the Raiders, his former team.

But Saturday? That was a different story.

The Vikings trailed throughout most of the championship game against Marian Catholic, but McDonald hit a half-court buzzer-beater to force a tie and the Vikings went on to knock off the area’s No. 1 team with a 51-50 double-overtime decision in Country Club Hills.

McDonald, a senior guard, finished with 12 points and was named tourney MVP for H-F (14-5). That included what turned out to be the winning free throw with 38 seconds left in the second OT.

“The free throw was a little easier to make than the half-court shot,” McDonald said with a smile.

All-tournament selection Aunyai Deere led the Vikings with 17 points, while Jenesis Moore came up with four steals, three assists and a blocked shot.

Taylor Bolton paced Marian Catholic (14-2) with 15 points and Alainna Poisson added 14.

The Spartans held H-F without a field goal in the first quarter and to just two in the first half, taking a 21-12 advantage. It would have been bigger lead if they hadn’t missed seven free throws.

But the buzz of the tournament was the improbable shot by McDonald. With one second to go, Deere heaved the ball to McDonald, who was camped on the left side of midcourt.

“I threw it to Jemiyah and she made it from half court,” Deere said matter-of-factly. “Once I saw it go in the air, I knew it was going in. She was confident in herself, so I knew she was going to make it.

“I have faith in Jemiyah and I knew she could do it.”

Also getting it done was Bloom (13-7), which took third with a 71-65 victory over Bolingbrook. Junior guard Kamryn Turner scored 38 points for the Blazing Trojans.

Defending tournament champion Stagg (12-4) finished fifth with a 54-41 win over Crane. Junior guard Abbey Hobart tallied 20 points to lead the Chargers. She scored 110 points in four games, which featured her reaching the 1,000-point mark for her career.

McDonald, a 5-foot-6 prospect who has drawn interest from Loyola and Blackburn, has hit winning 3-pointers in games and half-court shots in practice but never hit one from half court in a game.

Still, she feels comfortable shooting from that distance.

“We practice it in the summer,” McDonald said. “(Assistant coach Louis Dickson) let us shoot a lot in the summer and after practice during the season.

“We get the feel of how it will be in a game.”

When Smith said “we drew it up that way,” he wasn’t joking.

“She ends practice for us one day with a half-court shot and got us back in the game with another,” Smith said of McDonald. “She’s 2-for-2.”

With the Vikings playing their usual tough schedule and racking up a few more losses than they would like, closing the 2024 portion of the schedule with a dramatic comeback win could pay off.

“It gives us the will to keep going,” McDonald said. “We want to keep playing, and when we get to the playoffs, make it to state hopefully.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtotwn.