Samara Gallaher sparked the comeback and then she finished it off.
The former Tall Fern hit two late free throws to push Ajax to a 59-55 win over the Andy Bay Falcons in women’s club basketball on Tuesday night.
Ajax trailed 35-25 at halftime, following a dominant second-quarter run from the Falcons.
The Ajax offence had been turnover prone, while the Falcons pushed in transition and got to the hoop to open up the biggest lead of the night.
However, Gallaher hit a pair of triples early in the third quarter to help close the gap.
Danielle Frost followed up with a three-point play to put Ajax back up one, after which little separated the teams through to the end.
Gallaher ended with 21 points, the last of those coming in the final minute.
The scoreboard showed 55-55 when Gallaher pulled down a rebound and charged up the court.
She put her head down and gathered her dribble, among three Falcons defenders.
An errant hand swiped at Gallaher, who drew the foul and calmly slotted two free throws to give Ajax a lead with 24 seconds to play.
Natalie Ivamy stole the ensuing inbound pass from the Falcons, before Frost was able to close out the game at the line.
While Gallaher carried much of Ajax’s scoring load, the Falcons did well in the absence of star guard Alexa Duff.
Their front court duo of Zoe Melville and Elise Carline had 17 and 14 points respectively, while Laura Ring added nine.
Dre Whaanga was Ajax’s next high scorer on nine points.
In the other game Varsity built their lead early, and held it for an 86-69 win over the South Pac Magic.
The trio of Legacy Harrison, Leila Anesi and Tyler Mitchell were influential for the students, posting 24, 20 and 19 points respectively.
They hit 10 three-pointers between them, and were the driving force as Varsity went on a 22-2 run on either side of the first quarter break.
That gave them a 31-12 lead, which they never looked like giving up through to the end.
Tia Pavihi had 30 points for the Magic, while Fay Fualau-Searle posted 19.
