Not our day!  I think that statement pretty much encapsulates our feelings surrounding our narrow 58-56 defeat on Sunday morning to Owensboro Catholic in the semi-finals of the All “A” State Tournament.  Notwithstanding, our ladies finish 4^th of 128 schools who competed in this All “A” Classic event – a notable accomplishment, albeit disappointing, since we felt that we were capable of cutting down the nets later in the day.

Early on we jumped out of the gate and sprung to a short-lived 8-2 lead that was quickly erased by the Lady Aces, who went on a 7-0 run to take the lead at 9-8 and finished out the first quarter on top 12-11 and then maintained that lead at 28-26 at halftime.   In review, three factors stand out from the first half.   The Lady Aces, a season-long 31% 3-Point shooting team, hit four of them in the first half, none of which came from their top long-distance shooter – Claudia Munsey, who averages 41% and has hit 50 of them on the season.  Ironically, she did not hit a single “3” in today’s game.  Her teammates hit six of them on the game, from five different players – not named Munsey.  The second factor was turnovers.  Our Lady ‘Stangs turned the ball over 7 times in the first quarter which saw the two teams turn it over, as though in a soccer game, 13 times.    The third factor was foul trouble.  Two Brossart starters, Kylie Smith and Rachael Shoemaker were strapped with 3 fouls each in the first half.  Shewmaker only played 6 minutes 53 seconds in the first half.  (I love these stat sheets), while Smith sat for nearly 3 minutes in the first half.  Despite this, we trailed merely two points at intermission – not unfamiliar territory to this team. 

Foul trouble would continue to plague Smith and Shew, as both picked up their 4^th relegating them to the bench for much of the second half.  On the day, Smith would sit for 15 of the 32 minutes played, and Shewmaker would observe play from the bench for 15 total minutes – yet we had a chance to win the game in the final 2 seconds, which certainly speaks well for our remaining starters and bench depth.

On the day we turned the ball over 23 times to the Lady Aces’ 14.  They would score 22 points on our turnovers, while we were only able to capitalize for14 points on their miscues.  Beyond that there were no other standout major discrepancies.  The game was tied at 44’s after three quarters, and despite falling behind by five twice late in the game, we always managed to get it back to a single possession and had the ball on two occasions in the final ticks, where a made basket would have sent the game to OT, or a dramatic “3” would have actually won it.

We were led in the scoring column by Hadley Eviston with 17 points, and Kylie Smith with 13.  For their efforts both were named to the All-Tournament Team.   Graylee Kramer (11) and Lilee Meyers (10) also netted double-figures.  Taylor Mannahan (#4) led the Lady Aces with 15.  The Lady Aces were defeated 60-42 by Holy Cross in the Championship Game.   We congratulate and will welcome the “A” State Champs to the SyDome on Wednesday, February 18^th.