Surprised to find herself suddenly under the basket in open space, Karli Thomas couldn’t pass up the shot.

Except that when the West Valley senior took an inbound pass from teammate Nikki Roux, she was flashing across the baseline and all her momentum was away from the hoop with a large portion of the backboard in the way.

West Valley's Cassidy Murillo looks for an open shot under pressure from Coeur d'Alene's Jackie Lenz.   BRIAN FITZGERALD/Yakima Herald-Republic View all photos for this story.

Moreover, the Rams were clinging to a one-point lead over comeback-minded Coeur d’Alene in the final seconds of Monday’s Tourneytown.com Shootout.

But none of those challenges inhibited the fearless Thomas, who somehow contorted her body in a way to not only release the shot but coax it through the net with 26 seconds left en route to a 41-38 victory.

“We all looked at each on the bench wondering, 'How did that go in?' ” said West Valley coach Jason Rubright. “Karli is just a very good athlete and she can make tough shots like that.”

Thomas’ acrobatic shot, coupled with Cassidy Murillo’s 3-pointer with 1:44 left, turned back a Coeur d’Alene rally that saw the Vikings use a 13-2 run to take a 37-36 lead with 2:35 to play.

Frustrated by seeing his team come away empty on 11 of its first 12 possessions in the final period, Rubright called timeout to make sure the next few plays went through Murillo.

The senior point guard made good with her clutch trey to retake the lead at 39-37. After the Vikings added a free throw, Thomas missed an open 3-pointer with 29 seconds left but the Rams kept possession off a deadball rebound, setting up Roux’s inbound pass to Thomas.

“The idea was just to get the ball in,” said the 5-foot-7 Thomas. “I expected their big girl (6-1 Deanna Dotts) to be there and she wasn’t. An open shot under the basket, even a tough one, I figured I had to take that.”

Coeur d’Alene, which placed fourth in last year’s Idaho 5A state tournament, had a chance at overtime but Lindsay Stark’s deep 3-point attempt missed at the final buzzer.

After a 1-4 start that included four losses in a holiday tournament in Arizona, the Rams (8-5) have a five-game win streak and have won seven of their past eight.

“That was real good competition and it showed us our weaknesses and what we needed to work on,” Thomas said. “We’re getting better every week.”

Led by Murillo’s 10 points, eight players scored for the Rams, whose defense forced 24 turnovers and held Coeur d’Alene to 24 points in the first three quarters. That gave Rubright plenty to be happy about despite watching the Vikings rally back in the game late.

“We executed our offensive sets real well and got a lot of good shots,” the coach said. “When our energy was up, especially in the second quarter, we played real well. And any time you’re getting 20 turnovers or better -- that’s a great effort.”

Coeur d’Alene (12-5), which had won 11 of its past 13 games, struggled against West Valley’s quick, swarming defense but the Vikings offset that problem by outrebounding West Valley 39-24.

“We’re not the tallest team around but we’ve got to do a better job than that,” Rubright said. “We’ll talk about that for tomorrow because we’ve got a tough one at Hanford.”

Thomas and Katie Hawkins led West Valley’s pressure with three steals apiece, and Murillo collected seven assists.

Dotts, a sophomore, powered Coeur d’Alene with 12 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks.