The coach was yelling, “Don’t shoot.”

Even her teammates admitted afterward they were hoping she wouldn’t do it.

But Cedar Valley Christian senior Carly Silver was all alone in her spot at the top of key. And so she cooly sailed in a 3-point shot. That brought the Huskies to within one point of Unity Christian with four minutes to go Saturday night in their first home game of the season.

The 300-or-so fans who packed the shoe box-sized gym went wild.

And they went wilder still when, just 30 seconds later, Cedar Valley freshman star Shelby Hembera dropped in a chippy to put her team ahead 37-36.

“No fouls,” Huskie Coach Craig Foote echoed again and again. “Stay straight up. Do not  foul anybody.”

And, he repeated during a time out, “Don’t shoot it unless you have a wide-open lay-up.”

His girls took heed.  A three-minute eternity and two made free throws later, they won their second game of the year 39-36 over the Knights of Fulton, Ill.

Silver, who hadn’t played organized basketball since the fifth grade and came out only because there were just four players at the time on the roster, said she was confident when she jacked up the long set shot in a crucial situation.

“I thought I’d make it,” she said.  She’s only taken five shots in 10 games this season, all from the exact same spot, and has connected on three of them.

Sitting on the bench as the only sub on what is now a six-girl roster (with manager Taylor Fields an extra in an emergency), freshman Alyson Woods said she watched the play as if in slow-motion.

“Shock and awe,” is how she described it.

The girls were beside themselves after boosting their record to 2-8, this time in front an enthusiastic crowd in a less-than-regulation 74-foot gym that also serves as the school cafeteria.

“It just you can win with six players,” said junior Lindsey Cach.

Foote, in his third year as coach after earlier stints as an assistant at Marion and Lisbon, said Cach was the key to the victory.

Unity Christian’s 6-foot-1 center Hannah Dykstra had scored all 20 of her team’s points in the first half.  Using a box-and-one defense in the second half, Cach held her to only three shot attempts and no points the rest of the way.

“Let anybody shoot but Dykstra,” Foote kept exhorting his team.  And fortunately for the Huskies, no one fouled out.  Though dressed, Woods has been sick and hasn’t put in a full practice all week.

Hembera, who again led her team with 18 points, ended up with four fouls, as did Cach and spunky senior point guard Ellen Rodriguez.  Huskie junior Izzy Hoffman, who closed out the game with 12 seconds left by banking in one free throw and missing the next, said victory on the home floor was especially sweet.

“It’s nice to be able to play in front of our own fans for a change,” she said.

The next it will happen is Feb. 6 when Cedar Valley plays host to Waterloo Christian.

“This one was a special win,” said Foote. “It was senior night, and it will be one the girls will always remember.”

UNITY CHRISTIAN (36): Cindy Trent 4 0-0 8, Jillian Bajema 0 0-0 0, Hannah Dykstra 9 2-5 20, Vanessa Frederick 2 0-0 4, Erin Wessels 1 0-2 2, JoLynn Frederick 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 2-7 36.

CEDAR VALLEY CHRISTIAN (39) – Carly Silver 1 0-0 3. Ellen Rodriguez 3 0-0 6, Lindsey Cach 3 0-2 6, Izzy Hoffman 2 1-3 6, Shelby Hembra 5 8-9 18. Totals 14 9-14 39.

Halftime – Unity 20, Cedar Valley 19. 3-point goals – Unity 0, Cedar Valley 2 (Hoffman, Cach) Total fouls – Unity 10, Cedar Valley 14. Fouled out – none.