As the ball spun out of Kennedy Campbell’s hand, her coach threw his hands in the air.

“I don’t know what it was,” Houston coach Jim Moore said. “As soon as Jaden (Stell) made that pass and I saw how open Kennedy was, I thought we had a good chance to knock it down.”

She did – for a thrilling game winner.

Campbell splashed in a 3-pointer as time expired Thursday morning to lift the Lady Tigers to a 44-43 victory against Mountain Grove in the Mountain Grove Holiday Tournament.

No. 12 Houston (3-6), which trailed by as many as nine points in the first half, will face ninth-seeded Dora at 10:30 a.m. Friday. The winner advances to the consolation final.

Trailing by two points with 16 seconds remaining in the game, Moore called timeout and designed a play for a perimeter shot for Stell. Mountain Grove denied the look, forcing the ball to swing around the perimeter. As time ticked away, the ball came back to Stell and she passed it to Campbell in the left corner.

Moore said the game-winning play wasn’t exactly designed the way it played out. But he did tell his team that moving the ball around the perimeter to shift Mountain Grove’s zone defense would lead to a good shot. He said Stell’s pass was especially important as the ball swung to the corner to Campbell.

“She very easily could have forced something,” Moore said. “But she was willing to trust her teammate and made the extra pass.”

It proved to be the right move. Campbell, who had one field goal, caught the ball with about three seconds left and unleashed a high-arching triple that ripped through the net as time expired.

“I’m thrilled for her,” Moore said. “She was ready to shoot it. She wasn’t afraid to take it.”

Stell hit four 3-pointers en route to 18 points as the lone player in the game to reach double figures. Ally Morgan and freshman Hannah Dzurick scored seven points apiece.

Trinity Elliott, Tommi Gardner and Kelsey Watson scored nine points each for the Lady Panthers (2-9).

BOX SCORE

Mtn. Grove 11 16 6 10 – 43

Houston 8 12 11 13 – 44

HOUSTON (44) – Kelly Hubbs 3. Lexie Spratt 2. Hannah Dzurick 7. Ally Morgan 7. Jaden Stell 18. Riley Scheets 2. Kennedy Campbell 5. FG 17. FT 4-8. F 21. (3-pointers: Stell 4, Hubbs, Campbell).