Photo by Maizie Main
Lebo's Morgan Laflin steals the ball away from Waverly's Jayme Hoag last night during the Lyon County League tournament. Lebo won its first game of the tournament 41-35.
With her team tied with Waverly late in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s game, Lebo’s Morgan Tastove had what she thought was a good reason to up her aggressiveness.
She just wanted the game to end so the Lady Wolves could advance.
“I really just wanted to get it over with and done so we could continue on,” Tastove said.
So Tastove did what she had to do, and proceeded to score seven of Lebo’s final nine points — with five coming at the free-throw line — to help the Lady Wolves defeat Waverly, 41-35, in the first round of the Lyon County League Tournament at White Auditorium. Her trips to the charity stripe were the result of well-timed drives to the basket, which forced the Lady Bulldogs to foul instead of giving up an easy layup.
It was that intense attitude that eventually gave the Lady Wolves the victory, Lebo coach Jay Applegate said.
“We got more aggressive the last 4 or 5 minutes of the ballgame, and that’s how we won,” Applegate said. “Until we get aggressive, we’re not a very good team, to tell you the truth.”
Photo by Maizie Main
Lebo's Deidra Jones goes up for a shot over Waverly's Megan Steward last night during the first round of the Lyon County League tournament. Lebo beat Waverly 41-35.
With the score tied at 32, Tastove drew fouls on Waverly’s Kristina Ervin on back-to-back possessions, which put the 5-foot-6 sophomore at the line for the first time all game. She calmly knocked down all four free throws, which gave Lebo a 36-32 lead — a lead it would never lose.
After a Waverly turnover, Tastove trailed the play and cleaned up Shelby Robke’s missed shot, putting the ball up high off the glass for a layup to give Lebo it’s largest lead at 38-32.
A layup by teammate Kate Marks and three Waverly free throws later, Tastove, who finished with a team-high 11 points, iced the game by hitting 1 of 2 free throws with 8.2 seconds left that made it 41-35.
“I just knew that I really had to put them (the free throws) in because every one was just another point on the board,” Tastove said. “We needed them.”
Tastove’s late-game performance helped the third-seeded Lady Wolves avoid an upset at the hands of the sixth-seeded Lady Bulldogs, who used an 11-6 scoring run in the third quarter to turn a four-point halftime deficit into a 24-23 lead heading into the final frame.
Photo by Maizie Main
Lebo's Kate Marks dribbles around Waverly's Danyl Chapman last night during the 87th Annual Lyon County League tournament. Lebo slid passed Waverly 41-35.
Waverly actually took its largest lead at 29-25 with 5 minutes, 43 seconds left on a put-back by Megan Steward, who finished with a game-high 16 points. However, Waverly could not hold on to its lead, in part because of four costly turnovers down the stretch. The Lady Bulldogs finished with 24 turnovers.
“Turnovers are what doomed us,” Waverly coach Dennis Tyson said. “It wasn’t anything Lebo was doing, we just didn’t handle the ball well.”
The victory earned Lebo a spot in Friday’s championship semifinals, where the Lady Wolves will play the winner of today’s 4 p.m. game between No. 7-seeded Burlingame and No. 2-seeded Lyndon. Waverly fell to the consolation bracket and will play the loser of the Burlingame-Lyndon matchup.
“I was real proud of the girls, in the 5 minutes, of making some really smart decisions,” Applegate said. “Waverly, the first 3 1/2 quarters, probably outplayed us. But the girls did a good job of coming back.”
Waverly 41, Lebo 35
Waverly 4 9 11 11 — 35
Lebo 3 14 6 18 — 41
Waverly (8-5) — Steward 16, Gifford 2, Wilson 12, Ervin 1, Hoag 2, Coursen 2.
Lebo (11-2) — Marks 9, Robke 3, Schlesener 4, Tastove 11, Laflin 10, Eagleburger 2, Jones 2.
Halftime — Lebo 17-13. Total fouls — Waverly 16, Lebo 20.
Burlingame 49, Flinthills 32
Meghan Atchison scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in the first quarter to help the Burlingame Lady Bearcats jump out to a 17-point lead at the end of the first period on their way to a 49-32 victory over Flinthills.
Atchison actually ended the first half with 18 points, as seventh-seeded Burlingame led 28-13 at the break, but Atchison wasn’t the only one doing the scoring for the Lady Bearcats in the first 16 minutes. Four other Burlingame players scored in the first half, and two Lady Bearcats joined Atchison in double figures: Gretchen Vandevord and Miranda Fagan each finished with 10 points.
No player reached double figures for No. 10-seeded Flinthills, as Caitlin Nelson paced the Lady Mustangs with eight points, including two 3-pointers.
Burlingame advanced to play second-seeded Lyndon at 4 p.m. today, while Flinthills will meet eighth-seeded Marais des Cygnes Valley at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
Burlingame 49, Flinthills 32
Flinthills 5 8 6 13 — 32
Burlingame 22 6 9 12 — 49
Flinthills (1-12) — Nelson 8, Harsh 4, Carr 5, Fullerton 4, H. Jackson 7, Riemann 2, Idleman 2.
Burlingame (6-7) — Greenwood 2, Atchison 22, Creviston 1, Vandevord 10, Fagan 10, Love 2.
Halftime — Burlingame 28-13. Total fouls — Burlingame 10, Flinthills 15.
Hartford 47, MdCV 24
The Hartford Lady Jaguars doubled up Marais des Cygnes Valley by halftime and cruised from there, taking a 47-24 victory over the Lady Trojans.
Thanks to six points apiece from Kellie Farr and Amy Bolen in the first half, ninth-seeded Hartford went into halftime leading 20-10.
Eighth-seeded MdCV hung around in the third quarter, only getting outscored 10-8 in the period after the break, but then Hartford’s Paige Hamman slammed the door shut on the Lady Trojans, scoring 10 of her game-high 12 points in the fourth quarter to lead Hartford to the 23-point victory.
Bolen finished in double figures with 10 points, while Farr ended with eight points.
Jessica Schmidt paced MdCV with six points, while Jamie Rice and Destiny Lemmon each chipped in five.
Hartford next will play top-seeded Olpe at 7 tonight, while MdCV will not play again until Saturday when it takes on Flinthills at 9 a.m.
Hartford 47, MdCV 24
Hartford 10 10 10 17 — 47
MdCV 7 3 8 6 — 24
Hartford (2-9) — Wilson 7, Farr 8, Wilkerson 4, Hamman 12, Bolen 10, Clark 2, Darbro 2, Preeo 2.
MdCV (0-11) — Rice 5, Schmidt 6, Lemmon 5, Russell 2, Phillips 2, Bell 2, Spencer 2.
Halftime — Hartford 20-10. Total fouls — Hartford 9, MdCV 11.
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