The McLouth Bulldog varsity girls’ basketball team made up for a lackluster first half Friday with a doozy of a second half as they overcame cross-county rival Oskaloosa, 56-52, in Oskaloosa.
The Bulldogs were down 8 at the half but turned up both the offense and defense in the second half to overcome a decided 39-22 rebounding advantage for Oskaloosa in the game.
The key was some scoring output from sources other than McLouth senior standout guard Missy Rome, although Rome made her presence felt in the second half as well. Sophomore guards Morgan Drinnon and Terri Stewart chipped in offensively while senior forward Kylie Shufflebarger had 6 fourth-quarter points to help the Bulldogs to victory.
The game started out all Oskaloosa as the Bears ran off the first 8 points of the game and the Bulldogs were still scoreless at the 4-minute mark of the quarter. Stewart put an end to that with McLouth’s first score with 3:34 left and the Bulldogs began the short climb back into the game. Stewart drilled a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left to cut the Bear lead to 3 and, after a 3-point play by Bears junior guard Hailey Kelly, Drinnon hit a 3-pointer with time dwindling to cut the Bears’ lead to 13-10 entering the second quarter.
Again, McLouth’s offense sputtered as the Bears built the lead to 9 points by scoring the first 6 points of the quarter. And again, the McLouth offense went scoreless until Rome hit 2 free throws with 3:55 left in the half. The Bears’ lead reached 11 late in the half before Drinnon sank another late 3-pointer to cut the halftime lead to 25-17 Oskaloosa.
Both offenses came out firing in the second half as the teams combined for four 3-pointers in the first 4 minutes. The Bears stretched the lead to 12 early but Drinnon nailed her third 3-pointer of the game. Bears sophomore guard Haley Pfau answered with a 3-pointer at the other end but Stewart hit a baseline 3 to cut the Bears’ lead to 8 with 6:18 left in the quarter. Stewart scored off a nice pass from Rome to cut the lead to 6 and Rome later cut the lead to 5 with a 3-pointer of her own. The lead continued to dwindle as Shufflebarger hit a free throw then Rome scored off an offensive rebound to cut the Oskaloosa lead to 2 at 35-33. The Bears were able to hold the lead at 4 as Drinnon hit 2 free throws but Kelly went coast-to-coast for a late layin to make the score 41-37 Bears entering the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs focused on working the ball inside to Shufflebarger throughout the game and, in the final period, the shots began to fall. She scored the Bulldogs’ first 5 points of the quarter and a Rome 3-pointer with 5:17 to play gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game at 45-43. A score from junior guard Logan Terry stretched the lead to 4 but senior Audrey Trowbridge scored off a Pfau pass and Kelly drilled a 3-pointer to give the Bears a 1-point lead with 3:28 to play. Terry answered with a 3-pointer and 2 Rome free throws made it 52-48 with 2:34 left.
Oskaloosa was unable to overcome the deficit as shots wouldn’t fall and the Bulldogs got rebounds when they needed them. The Bears had the ball down 3 with 23 seconds left but a long inbounds pass resulted in a turnover and Shufflebarger hit a free throw to make it a two-possession game for the Bears. Kelly missed 2 free throws but senior Kyra Coffman came up with an offensive rebound and hit both free throws after getting fouled. The Bulldogs would escape, however, as Rome took the inbounds pass and hit both free throws with 1.9 seconds left to give McLouth the 56-52 win.
Rome scored 18 points to lead the Bulldogs, with 14 points coming in the second half. Drinnon scored 13 points while Stewart added 11 points in the win. Shufflebarger finished with 9 points and also led the Bulldogs with 8 rebounds and 5 steals. Rome pulled down 6 rebounds with 3 steals.
Oskaloosa was led by 18 points from Pfau, who also grabbed 8 rebounds. Kelly added 16 points and 8 rebounds while Coffman pulled down 9 rebounds and senior Mallory Schmidt grabbed 7 boards.
The win improved McLouth’s record to 12-7 entering the regular season’s final week. The Bears fell to 10-6 but bounced back with a makeup shellacking of Wathena Saturday.
McLouth first-year coach Bob Good said his team benefitted from some close games this season, plus the players seem to step up their games in the second half.
“I told them (at halftime) we basically needed to get back on defense and be better at stopping their dribble penetration,” Good said. “Get back, stop the ball and rebound. I told them the shots would fall, we just need to keep doing what we’re doing on offense. They came on strong. Kylie came on late and the shots started falling. Morgan has grown up a lot this season and has gotten more physical with her game. Logan made a couple big shots for us. This team, for some reason, just has a different level of intensity in the fourth quarter. The game gets late and they get better. I like that demeanor.
“We’re working to get a home game that first round of substate. That’s our focus right now. We want to get down the road a little bit farther than they have (in recent seasons).”
Oskaloosa boys 44, McLouth 37
The boys game was a little bit of a mirror image of the girls’ contest as the Bulldogs established an early lead but couldn’t stop Bears junior guard Adam Bowser in the second half.
Bowser scored 17 second-half points as the Bears held on in the fourth quarter for the win. On the flip side, the Bears held McLouth leading scorer senior guard Cole Batman scoreless in the game to help their cause.
The teams got off to a slow start as it was 6-4 with 2:15 to play in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs finished the quarter on a 5-1 run as sophomore guard Shawn Dailey hit a 3-pointer to make it 11-5 McLouth entering the second quarter.
The Bears began to draw closer in the second quarter as senior Brandon Barnes hit a jumper to cut the lead to 11-9. Another Dailey 3-pointer helped the Bulldogs stay ahead but 2 Bowser free throws and a jumper from sophomore Adam Brien cut the lead back to 1 with 3:54 to play in the half. The scores sparked a 10-point Bears run as McLouth didn’t get back on the board until freshman Marc Walbridge hit a jumper with 1:20 left in the half to make the halftime score 19-16 Oskaloosa.
The Bulldogs hung around the lead in the third quarter as a Walbridge 3 tied the game at 22 with 3:55 left in the quarter. Bowser answered with a 3-pointer as the Bears were able to stretch the lead back to 5. Walbridge hit another 3-pointer with 37 seconds left to cut the Bear lead to 29-27 entering the fourth quarter.
The Bears couldn’t pull away from the Bulldogs until a Bowser 3-pointer and 2 Bowser free throws gave them a 6-point lead with just under 4 minutes left in the game. A 3-point play by McLouth sophomore Alen Kramer cut the lead back to 3 with 2:24 to play but the Bulldogs would get no closer. There was some late controversy as McLouth was in a must-foul situation late and junior guard Derek Wright was called for an intentional foul much to the dislike of Bulldog fans. The ensuing possession helped the Bears to a 6-pont lead and senior Adam Marshall got a key steal and hit a free throw with 14 seconds left to help the Bears to the 44-37 win.
Bowser added 7 rebounds to his 21 points to lead the Bears. Junior Braden McGinnis pulled down 7 rebounds as both teams had 24 rebounds in the game.
McLouth was led by 11 points from Walbridge and 9 points from Dailey. Sophomore forward Gavin Swearngin had 8 rebounds and junior forward Trevor Roberts had 6 rebounds.
Oskaloosa coach Rod Stottlemire said after several close losses this season, it was nice to see his team pull out a victory Friday.
“We’ve lost three overtime games and on a bank-in 3 at the buzzer, so any win we can pull off at the end is a good win,” Stottlemire said. “We’ve had a lot of close misses on the raod and the guys have worked real hard this season. McLouth is playing pretty well, so we’re happy to get the win. We’ve got to be more consistent on offense and step our free throws up a bit as well going into substate here.”
The Bears improved to 8-9 with the win while McLouth fell to 3-17. The Bears dropped their makeup game with Wathena Saturday to fall to 8-10.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
County basketball update for Feb. 23
Tuesday’s games (Feb. 16)
Girls
JCN 68, Wathena 22
• North led, 33-5, after one quarter en route to the easy win to move to 16-1. Sophomore Jordan Kramer led North with 22 points while senior Sara Navinskey scored 12.
Perry-Lecompton 53, Turner 22
• A 20-7 third quarter helped the Kaws to the win as they improved to 10-6. Senior Jessica Christman led Perry-Lecompton with 15 points while junior Abbey Bays scored 13 points and senior Katie Volle scored 10.
McLouth 52, Horton 49 (OT)
• McLouth came back from a 4-point deficit entering the fourth quarter and then scored the only 3 points in overtime to improve to 11-7. Senior Missy Rome poured in 26 points for the Bulldogs while senior Kylie Shufflebarger scored 11.
Oskaloosa 52, Valley Falls 44
• The Bears used a 16-10 third quarter to build a 9-point lead and then held on to improve to 10-5. Valley Falls fell to 6-11. Sophomore Haley Pfau scored 22 for Oskaloosa while junior Hailey Kelly scored 17 for the Bears. The Dragons were led by 18 points from junior Abbey Kearney and 12 points from junior Morgan Streeter.
Hiawatha 58, Jefferson West 38
• West trailed by 21 at the half in falling to 7-11. Senior Taylor Jaimes led West with 10 points.
Boys
Wathena 66, JCN 51
• Wathena outscored North, 40-26, in the second half to pull away and drop the Chargers to 10-6. Junior Jeff Hale led North with 17 points.
Valley Falls 55, Oskaloosa 51 (OT)
• The Bears used a 26-8 second quarter to take an 8-point halftime lead but the Dragons stormed back to tie the game in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Valley Falls then outscored the Bears, 6-2, in the extra period to win and move to 9-8. Oskaloosa fell to 7-9. Valley Falls was led by 13 points from junior Alex Nottingham, 12 points from junior Brooks Glassel and 11 points from senior Mitchell Streeter. Oskaloosa was led by 20 points from junior Levi Wade, 16 points from senior Brandon Barnes and 10 points from junior Adam Bowser.
Hiawatha 63, Jefferson West 44
• West fell to 5-13 with the loss. Senior Alex Baker led the way with 13 points while senior Austin Siess scored 11.
Turner 57, Perry-Lecompton 49
• Turner pulled ahead for good in the third quarter as the Kaws fell to 2-15. Senior Shelby Politte led Perry-Lecompton with 21 points.
Horton 44, McLouth 39
• The Bulldogs led by 4 at the half but were outscored, 33-24, in the second half to fall to 3-16. Senior Cole Batman scored 14 points to lead McLouth.
Friday’s games (Feb. 19)
Boys
Immaculata 54, JCN 52
• North lost a late lead in falling to 10-7. Senior Nick Clark led the Chargers with 17 points.
Jackson Hts. 51, Valley Falls 44
• The Dragons were outscored, 27-13, in the second and third quarters as they dropped to 9-9. Senior Riley Bunde scored 18 points and Nottingham scored 15 points for the Dragons.
Oskaloosa 44, McLouth 37
• The Bears held on for the win to move to 8-9. McLouth fell to 3-17. Bowser scored 21 points to lead Oskaloosa while freshman Marc Walbridge led McLouth with 11 points.
Nemaha Valley 51, Jefferson West 40
• The Tigers fell to 5-14 with the loss. Baker led West with 10 points.
Piper 44, Perry-Lecompton 31
• The Kaws fell to 2-16.
Girls
JCN 52, Immaculata 44
• The Chargers pulled out the game in the fourth quarter to improve to 17-1. Kramer led the way with 19 points for North.
McLouth 56, Oskaloosa 52
• The Bulldogs came back from an 8-point halftime deficit to pull ahead and win in the fourth quarter to improve to 12-7. Oskaloosa dropped to 10-6. Pfau scored 18 while Kelly scored 16 for Oskaloosa. McLouth was led by 18 points from Rome, including 14 in the second half, 13 points from sophomore Morgan Drinnon and 11 points from sophomore Terri Stewart.
Piper 39, Perry-Lecompton 35
• The Kaws dropped to 10-7.
Valley Falls 38, Jackson Hts. 29
• The Dragons outscored the Cobras, 21-11, in the second half to improve to 7-11. Senior Bailey Sherretts scored 13 points and Kearney scored 12 in the win for Valley Falls.
Saturday’s games (Feb. 20)
Boys
Wathena 61, Oskaloosa 43
• The Bears trailed by 12 at the half and Wathena pulled away for the win to drop Oskaloosa to 8-10. Bowser led the Bears with 16 points.
Girls
Oskaloosa 65, Wathena 35
• The Bears improved to 11-6 as they outscored the Wildcats, 33-8, in the second half. Kelly scored 25 points and Pfau scored 20 in the win.
Girls
JCN 68, Wathena 22
• North led, 33-5, after one quarter en route to the easy win to move to 16-1. Sophomore Jordan Kramer led North with 22 points while senior Sara Navinskey scored 12.
Perry-Lecompton 53, Turner 22
• A 20-7 third quarter helped the Kaws to the win as they improved to 10-6. Senior Jessica Christman led Perry-Lecompton with 15 points while junior Abbey Bays scored 13 points and senior Katie Volle scored 10.
McLouth 52, Horton 49 (OT)
• McLouth came back from a 4-point deficit entering the fourth quarter and then scored the only 3 points in overtime to improve to 11-7. Senior Missy Rome poured in 26 points for the Bulldogs while senior Kylie Shufflebarger scored 11.
Oskaloosa 52, Valley Falls 44
• The Bears used a 16-10 third quarter to build a 9-point lead and then held on to improve to 10-5. Valley Falls fell to 6-11. Sophomore Haley Pfau scored 22 for Oskaloosa while junior Hailey Kelly scored 17 for the Bears. The Dragons were led by 18 points from junior Abbey Kearney and 12 points from junior Morgan Streeter.
Hiawatha 58, Jefferson West 38
• West trailed by 21 at the half in falling to 7-11. Senior Taylor Jaimes led West with 10 points.
Boys
Wathena 66, JCN 51
• Wathena outscored North, 40-26, in the second half to pull away and drop the Chargers to 10-6. Junior Jeff Hale led North with 17 points.
Valley Falls 55, Oskaloosa 51 (OT)
• The Bears used a 26-8 second quarter to take an 8-point halftime lead but the Dragons stormed back to tie the game in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Valley Falls then outscored the Bears, 6-2, in the extra period to win and move to 9-8. Oskaloosa fell to 7-9. Valley Falls was led by 13 points from junior Alex Nottingham, 12 points from junior Brooks Glassel and 11 points from senior Mitchell Streeter. Oskaloosa was led by 20 points from junior Levi Wade, 16 points from senior Brandon Barnes and 10 points from junior Adam Bowser.
Hiawatha 63, Jefferson West 44
• West fell to 5-13 with the loss. Senior Alex Baker led the way with 13 points while senior Austin Siess scored 11.
Turner 57, Perry-Lecompton 49
• Turner pulled ahead for good in the third quarter as the Kaws fell to 2-15. Senior Shelby Politte led Perry-Lecompton with 21 points.
Horton 44, McLouth 39
• The Bulldogs led by 4 at the half but were outscored, 33-24, in the second half to fall to 3-16. Senior Cole Batman scored 14 points to lead McLouth.
Friday’s games (Feb. 19)
Boys
Immaculata 54, JCN 52
• North lost a late lead in falling to 10-7. Senior Nick Clark led the Chargers with 17 points.
Jackson Hts. 51, Valley Falls 44
• The Dragons were outscored, 27-13, in the second and third quarters as they dropped to 9-9. Senior Riley Bunde scored 18 points and Nottingham scored 15 points for the Dragons.
Oskaloosa 44, McLouth 37
• The Bears held on for the win to move to 8-9. McLouth fell to 3-17. Bowser scored 21 points to lead Oskaloosa while freshman Marc Walbridge led McLouth with 11 points.
Nemaha Valley 51, Jefferson West 40
• The Tigers fell to 5-14 with the loss. Baker led West with 10 points.
Piper 44, Perry-Lecompton 31
• The Kaws fell to 2-16.
Girls
JCN 52, Immaculata 44
• The Chargers pulled out the game in the fourth quarter to improve to 17-1. Kramer led the way with 19 points for North.
McLouth 56, Oskaloosa 52
• The Bulldogs came back from an 8-point halftime deficit to pull ahead and win in the fourth quarter to improve to 12-7. Oskaloosa dropped to 10-6. Pfau scored 18 while Kelly scored 16 for Oskaloosa. McLouth was led by 18 points from Rome, including 14 in the second half, 13 points from sophomore Morgan Drinnon and 11 points from sophomore Terri Stewart.
Piper 39, Perry-Lecompton 35
• The Kaws dropped to 10-7.
Valley Falls 38, Jackson Hts. 29
• The Dragons outscored the Cobras, 21-11, in the second half to improve to 7-11. Senior Bailey Sherretts scored 13 points and Kearney scored 12 in the win for Valley Falls.
Saturday’s games (Feb. 20)
Boys
Wathena 61, Oskaloosa 43
• The Bears trailed by 12 at the half and Wathena pulled away for the win to drop Oskaloosa to 8-10. Bowser led the Bears with 16 points.
Girls
Oskaloosa 65, Wathena 35
• The Bears improved to 11-6 as they outscored the Wildcats, 33-8, in the second half. Kelly scored 25 points and Pfau scored 20 in the win.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Basketball update for Feb. 2
Tuesday’s games (Jan. 26)
Girls
Santa Fe Trail 52, Jefferson West 32
• West fell to 4-8. Senior BriAnna Ploude led the Tigers with 12 points.
JCN Tourney
First round
JCN 64, Atchison 33
• The Chargers improved to 9-1 as they built a 29-7 lead after a quarter and coasted from there. Sophomore Jordan Kramer led JCN with 18 points while seniors Mallory GrandPre and Sara Navinskey scored 16 points each.
Perry-Lecompton 38, McLouth 37
• The Kaws had a 6-point halftime lead and held on to take a narrow win and move to 7-1. McLouth fell to 6-5. Senior Katie Volle led the Kaws with 18 points while the Bulldogs were led by 12 points from senior Kylie Shufflebarger.
Oskaloosa 56, Maranatha 40
• The Bears took a 20-point halftime lead and didn’t look back in moving to 7-2. Sophomore Haley Pfau led the Bears with 18 points as 10 different Bears logged points.
ACCHS 43, Valley Falls 29
• The Dragons fell to 4-5. Junior Abbey Kearney led Valley Falls with 16 points.
Boys
Perry-Lecompton 67, Oskaloosa 51
• The Kaws built a 7-point halftime lead and pulled away in the second half to improve to 2-8. Oskaloosa fell to 6-6. Senior Shelby Politte scored 24 for the Kaws while senior Logan Hurd scored 16 and senior Brad Phillips added 11. The Bears were led by 22 points from junior Adam Bowser and 11 points each from senior Brandon Barnes and junior Levi Wade.
Santa Fe Trail 65, Jefferson West 50
• West fell to 4-8. Freshman Cory Brown scored 12 points and junior Dillon Roy added 11 for West.
Thursday’s games (Jan. 28)
Boys
ACCHS 50, JCN 46
• North suffered its second loss in six days to the Tigers but made this one close before falling to 7-4. Junior Jeff Hale and senior Nick Clark led JCN with 10 points each.
Friday’s games (Jan. 29)
Boys
Bishop Ward 44, Perry-Lecompton 42
• The Kaws fell to 2-9.
McLouth 55, KC East Christian 26
• The Bulldogs led by 15 at the half and put the game away in the third quarter to improve to 3-11. Sophomore Shawn Dailey led the way with 14 points while junior Trevor Roberts scored 12 and senior Cole Batman scored 11.
Girls
JCN Tourney
Semifinals
JCN 47, ACCHS 40
• The Chargers defeated the Tigers for the second time in eight days as they pulled away in the fourth quarter to improve to 10-1. Kramer scored 15 for North while junior Katie Noll scored 12 points and Navinsky added 10 points.
Perry-Lecompton 37, Oskaloosa 35
• The Kaws defeated Oskaloosa for the second time this season as they built a 7-point halftime lead and then held on in the second half to move to 8-1. Oskaloosa dropped to 7-3. Senior Jessica Christman led the Kaws with 13 points. Junior Hailey Kelly led Oskaloosa with 12 points.
Consolation semis
McLouth 37, Maranatha 35
• McLouth led, 10-2, after a quarter and had to hold on the rest of the way to improve to 7-5. Shufflebarger and senior Missy Rome scored 14 points each to lead the Bulldogs.
Atchison 44, Valley Falls 42
• The Dragons led by 4 at the half but couldn’t hold on in the fourth quarter to fall to 4-6. Kearney scored 14 points and senior Bethany Myers scored 12 points in the loss for Valley Falls.
Saturday’s games (Jan. 30)
Girls
JCN Tourney
Championship
JCN 49, Perry-Lecompton 44 (OT)
• North didn’t lead in the game until overtime after coming back from a 9-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to force the extra period. The Chargers improved to 11-1 while the Kaws fell to 8-2 on the season. Kramer scored 17 points and Navinskey scored 11, including the game-tying basket with only seconds left in regulation. Christman led the Kaws with 15 points while junior Abbey Bays and Volle scored 9 each.
Third place
ACCHS 44, Oskaloosa 34
• The Bears were down by 10 after one quarter and couldn’t come back in the second half to fall to 7-4. Kelly led the Bears with 11 points while Pfau and sophomore Rachel Schmanke scored 9 each.
Fifth place
McLouth 43, Atchison 26
• The Bulldogs built a 10-point halftime lead and withstood an early Atchison run in the second half before pulling away to move to 8-5. Rome scored 15 points, sophomore Terri Stewart scored 12 points and Shufflebarger scored 11 in the win.
Seventh place
Valley Falls 46, Maranatha 37
• The Dragons led by 3 at the half and pulled away in the fourth quarter to improve to 5-6. Sophomore Macie Herrig led the way for the Dragons with 13 points.
Girls
Santa Fe Trail 52, Jefferson West 32
• West fell to 4-8. Senior BriAnna Ploude led the Tigers with 12 points.
JCN Tourney
First round
JCN 64, Atchison 33
• The Chargers improved to 9-1 as they built a 29-7 lead after a quarter and coasted from there. Sophomore Jordan Kramer led JCN with 18 points while seniors Mallory GrandPre and Sara Navinskey scored 16 points each.
Perry-Lecompton 38, McLouth 37
• The Kaws had a 6-point halftime lead and held on to take a narrow win and move to 7-1. McLouth fell to 6-5. Senior Katie Volle led the Kaws with 18 points while the Bulldogs were led by 12 points from senior Kylie Shufflebarger.
Oskaloosa 56, Maranatha 40
• The Bears took a 20-point halftime lead and didn’t look back in moving to 7-2. Sophomore Haley Pfau led the Bears with 18 points as 10 different Bears logged points.
ACCHS 43, Valley Falls 29
• The Dragons fell to 4-5. Junior Abbey Kearney led Valley Falls with 16 points.
Boys
Perry-Lecompton 67, Oskaloosa 51
• The Kaws built a 7-point halftime lead and pulled away in the second half to improve to 2-8. Oskaloosa fell to 6-6. Senior Shelby Politte scored 24 for the Kaws while senior Logan Hurd scored 16 and senior Brad Phillips added 11. The Bears were led by 22 points from junior Adam Bowser and 11 points each from senior Brandon Barnes and junior Levi Wade.
Santa Fe Trail 65, Jefferson West 50
• West fell to 4-8. Freshman Cory Brown scored 12 points and junior Dillon Roy added 11 for West.
Thursday’s games (Jan. 28)
Boys
ACCHS 50, JCN 46
• North suffered its second loss in six days to the Tigers but made this one close before falling to 7-4. Junior Jeff Hale and senior Nick Clark led JCN with 10 points each.
Friday’s games (Jan. 29)
Boys
Bishop Ward 44, Perry-Lecompton 42
• The Kaws fell to 2-9.
McLouth 55, KC East Christian 26
• The Bulldogs led by 15 at the half and put the game away in the third quarter to improve to 3-11. Sophomore Shawn Dailey led the way with 14 points while junior Trevor Roberts scored 12 and senior Cole Batman scored 11.
Girls
JCN Tourney
Semifinals
JCN 47, ACCHS 40
• The Chargers defeated the Tigers for the second time in eight days as they pulled away in the fourth quarter to improve to 10-1. Kramer scored 15 for North while junior Katie Noll scored 12 points and Navinsky added 10 points.
Perry-Lecompton 37, Oskaloosa 35
• The Kaws defeated Oskaloosa for the second time this season as they built a 7-point halftime lead and then held on in the second half to move to 8-1. Oskaloosa dropped to 7-3. Senior Jessica Christman led the Kaws with 13 points. Junior Hailey Kelly led Oskaloosa with 12 points.
Consolation semis
McLouth 37, Maranatha 35
• McLouth led, 10-2, after a quarter and had to hold on the rest of the way to improve to 7-5. Shufflebarger and senior Missy Rome scored 14 points each to lead the Bulldogs.
Atchison 44, Valley Falls 42
• The Dragons led by 4 at the half but couldn’t hold on in the fourth quarter to fall to 4-6. Kearney scored 14 points and senior Bethany Myers scored 12 points in the loss for Valley Falls.
Saturday’s games (Jan. 30)
Girls
JCN Tourney
Championship
JCN 49, Perry-Lecompton 44 (OT)
• North didn’t lead in the game until overtime after coming back from a 9-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to force the extra period. The Chargers improved to 11-1 while the Kaws fell to 8-2 on the season. Kramer scored 17 points and Navinskey scored 11, including the game-tying basket with only seconds left in regulation. Christman led the Kaws with 15 points while junior Abbey Bays and Volle scored 9 each.
Third place
ACCHS 44, Oskaloosa 34
• The Bears were down by 10 after one quarter and couldn’t come back in the second half to fall to 7-4. Kelly led the Bears with 11 points while Pfau and sophomore Rachel Schmanke scored 9 each.
Fifth place
McLouth 43, Atchison 26
• The Bulldogs built a 10-point halftime lead and withstood an early Atchison run in the second half before pulling away to move to 8-5. Rome scored 15 points, sophomore Terri Stewart scored 12 points and Shufflebarger scored 11 in the win.
Seventh place
Valley Falls 46, Maranatha 37
• The Dragons led by 3 at the half and pulled away in the fourth quarter to improve to 5-6. Sophomore Macie Herrig led the way for the Dragons with 13 points.
North defeats Kaws in epic tourney finale
It took Jefferson County North more than 32 minutes of gameplay to finally grab the lead in the title game of the Chargers’ own tournament Saturday in Winchester and it took a couple clutch plays to help North hold off a feisty Perry-Lecompton squad for a 49-44 overtime victory.
The win was more proof of a Charger team that, as coach Steve Noll put it, has a never-say-die mentality. Meanwhile on the other side, the Kaws continued the best basketball story in the county this season in a turnaround under second-year coach Justin Mayer. Despite the loss, the Kaws sat at 8-2 after the game. The Kaw girls last won 8 games in the 2000-01 season when they finished 8-13. They have only won 7 games one time since that season.
JCN earned a trip to the title game with wins over Atchison and ACCHS in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Perry-Lecompton took down McLouth and Oskaloosa in narrow wins to qualify for the tourney title game.
The Kaws held the momentum for the vast majority of the game with the Chargers but the keys to the Charger win were a resurgence of rebounding by North after the Chargers were outrebounded, 18-13, in the first half, and 22 Kaw turnovers compared to only 12 for the Chargers. At game’s end the Chargers had 37 rebounds to Perry-Lecompton’s 38. A big shot by North senior Sara Navinskey to force overtime also helped the Chargers’ cause.
Perry-Lecompton took control from the opening tip as junior guard Abbey Bays scored off an offensive rebound and the Kaws built a 7-1 lead midway through the quarter. North got its first field goal of the game on a Navinskey jumper with 3:40 to play in the opening quarter and got the game tied at 7 with just over a minute left in the period. A free throw by Kaws junior Taylor Akagi gave the Kaws an 8-7 edge entering the second quarter.
The game was tied at three points in the second quarter until Perry-Lecompton regained control with a 7-point run to force a North timeout with 2:31 left in the half. The Kaws had the ball and a chance to extend the lead but North sophomore guard Jordan Kramer came up with two key steals that were converted into a layup and then two free throws by senior forward Mallory GrandPre to cut the lead to 3 at 19-16 Kaws with 51 seconds left in the half. Kaws senior Katherine Frye added a free throw to give Perry-Lecompton a 20-16 halftime lead.
The Chargers cut the lead to 2 early in the third quarter but the Kaws churned out another 7-point run in a 90-second stretch of game time. Sophomore guard Natasha Carver got it started with a 3-pointer, senior forward Katie Volle added two free throws and Bays hit a jumper to make it 31-22 Kaws, which would be the score entering the fourth quarter.
JCN scored the first 5 points of the final quarter to get back in the game. Kramer scored off an offensive rebound on a missed GrandPre free throw and then hit a jumper on North’s next possession to cut the lead to 31-27. Kaws senior Jessica Christman scored on a short jumper but a Kramer 3 would cut the lead to 33-31 Kaws with 5:07 to go in the game. The Kaws were up 4 and had a couple chances to stretch the lead but were unable. Another Christman jumper with 2:10 to play kept the lead at 4 and the Kaws again got multiple chances to extend the lead but could not.
The Kaws still held the 4-point lead with 1:02 to play, however. GrandPre hit 1 of 2 free throws with 44 seconds to play but, for a third consecutive time, the Kaws missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw set and GrandPre pulled down the rebound. Kaws senior guard Katie Hirsch got a key steal with 33 seconds left and hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it 38-34 Kaws. JCN junior Katie Noll scored off an offensive rebound and the Chargers took a timeout with 23 seconds left.
The Kaws made a key turnover on their next possession and, after another North timeout, Kramer and Navinskey executed a well-timed inbounds play with Navinskey scoring on a layup of Kramer’s inbounds pass. Kramer fouled Bays with 15 seconds left and the Perry-Lecompton junior hit both free throws to give the Kaws a 40-38 lead. From there, North had one more chance and, with time winding down, Navinskey threw up a shot from near the top of the key and it hit its mark to tie the game and force overtime.
North was still looking for its first lead of the game entering the extra stanza and got it as Kramer scored on a layup off the tip and was fouled. Hirsch hit 1 of 2 free throws on Perry-Lecompton’s next possession to cut the lead to 1 and, after a GrandPre short jumper for her first field goal of the game, Bays hit a clutch 3-pointer to tie the game at 44. North was able to take a 1-point lead on a GrandPre free throw and a traveling call on the Kaws gave the Chargers an opening. Navinskey hit 2 free throws to make the lead 3, but then missed both free throws after pulling down a defensive rebound and getting fouled. Kramer came down with a big offensive rebound on the second missed free throw but traveled, and then GrandPre made a key steal with time running under 20 seconds. Kramer missed 2 free throws with 10 seconds left but GrandPre got perhaps the biggest rebound of the game and put it back in for 2 points to secure the 49-44 North win.
North improved to 11-1 with the win as Kramer scored 17 points with 7 rebounds and 5 steals and Navinskey scored 11 points with 7 rebounds. GrandPre scored 9 points with 9 rebounds and 7 steals and Katie Noll grabbed 7 rebounds.
Perry-Lecompton fell to 8-2 and was led by 15 points and 11 rebounds from Christman and 9 points each from Bays and Volle. Bays added 6 rebounds and 3 steals while Volle grabbed 5 rebounds. Two Kaw starters fouled out late in the game to help North’s chances.
North coach Noll said he would take the win and tourney title, although he credited Perry-Lecompton for giving the Chargers all they could handle.
“They played well,” a relieved Noll said after the game. “They really gave us a heck of a game. We weren’t able to do what we wanted to do. I think Sara’s shot there at the end was maybe 10 feet, 1 inch, it was that close to the rim. The girls just kept plugging away.”
Noll credited the team’s full-court pressure with helping fuel the fourth-quarter comeback.
“We did go with a little more full court man-to-man defense, and we haven’t been able to run a lot of man defense recently,” he said. “Every time it looked like shots were there, they were in our face. We finally got to where we could move the ball and got fouled a couple times there. The girls have faced a lot of adversity at times this season and they keep plugging away. Hopefully we can build on this. We’ve got to work on shooting free throws better and pick it up on defense. We need to have offense that runs based on initiating it by good defense.”
ACCHS 44,
Oskaloosa 34 (third)
The third-place game of the JCN tourney went to ACCHS as the Tigers took control in the first quarter and fended the Bears off the rest of the game to drop Oskaloosa to 7-4.
The Bears had defeated Maranatha in the opening round before falling to Perry-Lecompton in Friday’s semifinals. ACCHS had defeated Valley Falls and then lost to JCN in the tourney semifinals.
The game was tied at 3 midway through the first quarter before ACCHS ended the period on a 12-2 run, including scoring the last 9 points of the quarter. Sophomore forward Tara Ellerman and sophomore guard Megan Vanderweide fueled the run as Ellerman scored 4 points and Vanderweide drilled two 3-pointers to help ACCHS to a 15-5 lead entering the second quarter.
Ellerman would continue to be a problem for the Bears as ACCHS spent most of the quarter holding off the Bears before extending the lead to 11 at the half. Ellerman finished the half with 11 points as a 3-point play midway through the quarter stretched the lead back to 9 and Ellerman scored the Tigers’ final 7 points of the half to make it 26-15 ACCHS.
Oskaloosa came out of the locker room firing in the second half as sophomore Haley Pfau started the scoring with a 3-pointer and would score the first 7 points of the half to cut the Tiger lead to 26-22. Ellerman notched another 3-point play to get ACCHS on the board and stymie the run. Oskaloosa wouldn’t go away, however, as junior guard Hailey Kelly scored the final 3 points of the quarter to trim the Tiger lead to 33-28 entering the fourth quarter.
The Tigers held Oskaloosa off the board in a key stretch of the final period as ACCHS went on a 6-0 run that extended the lead back to 11 points with 6:05 to play. Oskaloosa sophomore forward Rachel Schmanke got the Bears back on the board with 5:57 to play but the ACCHS lead would be too big to surmount. The Tiger bench salted away a 44-34 win.
Oskaloosa was led by 11 points from Kelly and 9 points each from Pfau and Schmanke. Pfau led the Bears with 4 rebounds. The Tigers controlled the boards with a 29-15 advantage.
ACCHS was led by Ellerman’s 18 points and 11 rebounds while Vanderweide scored 11 points.
In other tourney action, McLouth defeated Atchison, 43-26, for fifth and Valley Falls defeated Maranatha, 46-37, for seventh.
The win was more proof of a Charger team that, as coach Steve Noll put it, has a never-say-die mentality. Meanwhile on the other side, the Kaws continued the best basketball story in the county this season in a turnaround under second-year coach Justin Mayer. Despite the loss, the Kaws sat at 8-2 after the game. The Kaw girls last won 8 games in the 2000-01 season when they finished 8-13. They have only won 7 games one time since that season.
JCN earned a trip to the title game with wins over Atchison and ACCHS in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Perry-Lecompton took down McLouth and Oskaloosa in narrow wins to qualify for the tourney title game.
The Kaws held the momentum for the vast majority of the game with the Chargers but the keys to the Charger win were a resurgence of rebounding by North after the Chargers were outrebounded, 18-13, in the first half, and 22 Kaw turnovers compared to only 12 for the Chargers. At game’s end the Chargers had 37 rebounds to Perry-Lecompton’s 38. A big shot by North senior Sara Navinskey to force overtime also helped the Chargers’ cause.
Perry-Lecompton took control from the opening tip as junior guard Abbey Bays scored off an offensive rebound and the Kaws built a 7-1 lead midway through the quarter. North got its first field goal of the game on a Navinskey jumper with 3:40 to play in the opening quarter and got the game tied at 7 with just over a minute left in the period. A free throw by Kaws junior Taylor Akagi gave the Kaws an 8-7 edge entering the second quarter.
The game was tied at three points in the second quarter until Perry-Lecompton regained control with a 7-point run to force a North timeout with 2:31 left in the half. The Kaws had the ball and a chance to extend the lead but North sophomore guard Jordan Kramer came up with two key steals that were converted into a layup and then two free throws by senior forward Mallory GrandPre to cut the lead to 3 at 19-16 Kaws with 51 seconds left in the half. Kaws senior Katherine Frye added a free throw to give Perry-Lecompton a 20-16 halftime lead.
The Chargers cut the lead to 2 early in the third quarter but the Kaws churned out another 7-point run in a 90-second stretch of game time. Sophomore guard Natasha Carver got it started with a 3-pointer, senior forward Katie Volle added two free throws and Bays hit a jumper to make it 31-22 Kaws, which would be the score entering the fourth quarter.
JCN scored the first 5 points of the final quarter to get back in the game. Kramer scored off an offensive rebound on a missed GrandPre free throw and then hit a jumper on North’s next possession to cut the lead to 31-27. Kaws senior Jessica Christman scored on a short jumper but a Kramer 3 would cut the lead to 33-31 Kaws with 5:07 to go in the game. The Kaws were up 4 and had a couple chances to stretch the lead but were unable. Another Christman jumper with 2:10 to play kept the lead at 4 and the Kaws again got multiple chances to extend the lead but could not.
The Kaws still held the 4-point lead with 1:02 to play, however. GrandPre hit 1 of 2 free throws with 44 seconds to play but, for a third consecutive time, the Kaws missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw set and GrandPre pulled down the rebound. Kaws senior guard Katie Hirsch got a key steal with 33 seconds left and hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it 38-34 Kaws. JCN junior Katie Noll scored off an offensive rebound and the Chargers took a timeout with 23 seconds left.
The Kaws made a key turnover on their next possession and, after another North timeout, Kramer and Navinskey executed a well-timed inbounds play with Navinskey scoring on a layup of Kramer’s inbounds pass. Kramer fouled Bays with 15 seconds left and the Perry-Lecompton junior hit both free throws to give the Kaws a 40-38 lead. From there, North had one more chance and, with time winding down, Navinskey threw up a shot from near the top of the key and it hit its mark to tie the game and force overtime.
North was still looking for its first lead of the game entering the extra stanza and got it as Kramer scored on a layup off the tip and was fouled. Hirsch hit 1 of 2 free throws on Perry-Lecompton’s next possession to cut the lead to 1 and, after a GrandPre short jumper for her first field goal of the game, Bays hit a clutch 3-pointer to tie the game at 44. North was able to take a 1-point lead on a GrandPre free throw and a traveling call on the Kaws gave the Chargers an opening. Navinskey hit 2 free throws to make the lead 3, but then missed both free throws after pulling down a defensive rebound and getting fouled. Kramer came down with a big offensive rebound on the second missed free throw but traveled, and then GrandPre made a key steal with time running under 20 seconds. Kramer missed 2 free throws with 10 seconds left but GrandPre got perhaps the biggest rebound of the game and put it back in for 2 points to secure the 49-44 North win.
North improved to 11-1 with the win as Kramer scored 17 points with 7 rebounds and 5 steals and Navinskey scored 11 points with 7 rebounds. GrandPre scored 9 points with 9 rebounds and 7 steals and Katie Noll grabbed 7 rebounds.
Perry-Lecompton fell to 8-2 and was led by 15 points and 11 rebounds from Christman and 9 points each from Bays and Volle. Bays added 6 rebounds and 3 steals while Volle grabbed 5 rebounds. Two Kaw starters fouled out late in the game to help North’s chances.
North coach Noll said he would take the win and tourney title, although he credited Perry-Lecompton for giving the Chargers all they could handle.
“They played well,” a relieved Noll said after the game. “They really gave us a heck of a game. We weren’t able to do what we wanted to do. I think Sara’s shot there at the end was maybe 10 feet, 1 inch, it was that close to the rim. The girls just kept plugging away.”
Noll credited the team’s full-court pressure with helping fuel the fourth-quarter comeback.
“We did go with a little more full court man-to-man defense, and we haven’t been able to run a lot of man defense recently,” he said. “Every time it looked like shots were there, they were in our face. We finally got to where we could move the ball and got fouled a couple times there. The girls have faced a lot of adversity at times this season and they keep plugging away. Hopefully we can build on this. We’ve got to work on shooting free throws better and pick it up on defense. We need to have offense that runs based on initiating it by good defense.”
ACCHS 44,
Oskaloosa 34 (third)
The third-place game of the JCN tourney went to ACCHS as the Tigers took control in the first quarter and fended the Bears off the rest of the game to drop Oskaloosa to 7-4.
The Bears had defeated Maranatha in the opening round before falling to Perry-Lecompton in Friday’s semifinals. ACCHS had defeated Valley Falls and then lost to JCN in the tourney semifinals.
The game was tied at 3 midway through the first quarter before ACCHS ended the period on a 12-2 run, including scoring the last 9 points of the quarter. Sophomore forward Tara Ellerman and sophomore guard Megan Vanderweide fueled the run as Ellerman scored 4 points and Vanderweide drilled two 3-pointers to help ACCHS to a 15-5 lead entering the second quarter.
Ellerman would continue to be a problem for the Bears as ACCHS spent most of the quarter holding off the Bears before extending the lead to 11 at the half. Ellerman finished the half with 11 points as a 3-point play midway through the quarter stretched the lead back to 9 and Ellerman scored the Tigers’ final 7 points of the half to make it 26-15 ACCHS.
Oskaloosa came out of the locker room firing in the second half as sophomore Haley Pfau started the scoring with a 3-pointer and would score the first 7 points of the half to cut the Tiger lead to 26-22. Ellerman notched another 3-point play to get ACCHS on the board and stymie the run. Oskaloosa wouldn’t go away, however, as junior guard Hailey Kelly scored the final 3 points of the quarter to trim the Tiger lead to 33-28 entering the fourth quarter.
The Tigers held Oskaloosa off the board in a key stretch of the final period as ACCHS went on a 6-0 run that extended the lead back to 11 points with 6:05 to play. Oskaloosa sophomore forward Rachel Schmanke got the Bears back on the board with 5:57 to play but the ACCHS lead would be too big to surmount. The Tiger bench salted away a 44-34 win.
Oskaloosa was led by 11 points from Kelly and 9 points each from Pfau and Schmanke. Pfau led the Bears with 4 rebounds. The Tigers controlled the boards with a 29-15 advantage.
ACCHS was led by Ellerman’s 18 points and 11 rebounds while Vanderweide scored 11 points.
In other tourney action, McLouth defeated Atchison, 43-26, for fifth and Valley Falls defeated Maranatha, 46-37, for seventh.
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