Olpe girls need OT to win 4th straight LCL Title
Michael Ashford - Special to the Gazette
Monday, February 2, 2009
Kendyl McDougald had no problem admitting that playing in the championship game of the Lyon County League Tournament was more than a little nerve-wracking at first.
But the Olpe freshman looked anything but uneasy with the game still in doubt in the latter stages of the overtime period against Southern Coffey County Saturday night at White Auditorium.
With her team trailing by two points at 55-53, McDougald drove into the lane on three straight possessions, and all three times, McDougald came away with points to give Olpe the lead for good in the Lady Eagles’ eventual 62-58 victory over SCC.
“I knew we needed to find some way to score,” said McDougald, who finished with 18 points. “We knew that the best way (to score) was getting into the lane, and even if we didn’t make a layup, we could at least get a chance at some free throws.”
Pretty heads-up for a freshman playing in her first LCL Tournament.
With just more than 2 minutes left, McDougald drove hard to the goal on back-to-back trips down the court, each time drawing a foul. She then went 2-for-4 from the line to tie the game at 55.
After a free throw on the other end put SCC ahead 56-55, McDougald again sliced her way down the lane, this time putting a shot up and in off the glass to push the Lady Eagles out in front, 57-56.
From there, Olpe did enough work at the free-throw line to hold off the Lady Titans, though it didn’t come easily. The Lady Eagles went just 5-of-10 from the line down the stretch, giving SCC more than enough chances to tie or take the lead.
But the Lady Titans only managed one basket in the final frame to go with three free throws, and Olpe held on for its fourth straight LCL Tournament title and the 21st overall for the school.
“We’ll definitely need to work on those this week — those free throws,” McDougald said. “But this is a great way to get the second half of the season going for us.”
It was a fairly lackluster ending to a game that had such a wild end to regulation.
It appeared third-seeded Olpe had victory easily in hand midway through the second half, as the Lady Eagles had used a 9-1 run to close out the first half to take a 20-16 lead at halftime over top-seeded SCC, and then, out of the break, Olpe pushed its lead to double digits with a 10-2 spurt to go up 30-18.
Olpe still led 38-30 going into the fourth period, but from there, behind 10 fourth-quarter points from junior Shelby Birk, SCC mounted a furious rally that forced the game into overtime
The comeback culminated with a 3-pointer from Birk that drew the Lady Titans to within one at 52-51, and after a free throw from senior Katie Moyer put Olpe up by two, SCC junior Kaitlin Meyer knocked down a turnaround jumper in the lane to tie the game with 10 seconds left.
Olpe could have won it in regulation had the Lady Eagles knocked down their free throws, but instead, Olpe went just 2-for-8 at the line in the final minute and a half. Olpe finished just 24-of-42 (57 percent) from the line.
“So many games are won or lost right there,” Olpe coach Jesse Nelson said, “and we had the opportunity several different times to put it away at the free-throw line, and we just didn’t get it done when we could have.”
SCC took its first lead of the game since the second quarter when Meyer put down two free throws with 3:44 left in overtime to make it 55-53, but SCC’s offense could not come up with any of the same big shots that had forced the game into the extra period.
“You’ve got to give the girls a lot of credit,” SCC coach Jeff True said. “We were down double figures in the second half, and they kept believing in themselves and they adjusted, and they were able to fight back into it. I just wish it could have ended different for them.”
Added Nelson: “Coming down the stretch, we were really tested by the fact that Southern Coffey just kept hitting bit shots. Sometimes, that can take the heart right out of you when you think you’re doing everything you can, and they’re still hitting the big shots to get right back into the game.
“That’s a credit to them, the run that they made at us, and a credit to our kids that they went and did the things that it took to win the game.”
Olpe girls 62, So. Coffey Co. 58, OT
Olpe 9 11 18 15 9 — 62
SCC 8 8 14 23 5 — 58
Olpe — Henderson 3-4 2-5 8, McDougald 5-13 8-14 18, Cole 0-1 0-0 0, Moyer 4-17 9-14 19, Flott 6-14 5-9 17, Kuhlmann 0-0 0-0 0, Bartley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-50 24-42 62.
SCC — Garland 2-7 0-0 6, Birk 5-15 0-0 13, Jacob 2-5 0-2 4, Ohl 3-12 2-6 6, Meyer 6-11 2-2 14, Stephens 3-9 4-6 10, Gudenkauf 1-6 0-0 3, Shields 0-0 0-0 0, Witterman 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 22-65 8-18 58.
3-point goals — Olpe 2-18 (Cole 0-1, Moyer 2-14, Flott 0-3), SCC 6-22 (Garland 2-6, Birk 3-11, Jacob 0-2, Gudenkauf 1-3). Rebounds — Olpe 46 (Flott 13), SCC 43 (Stephens 12). Turnovers — Olpe 14, SCC 10. Fouled out — Olpe: Henderson. SCC: Garland, Birk, Meyer. Total fouls — Olpe 16, SCC 30.
Madison girls 55,
Lebo 50
Madison’s one-two punch of Morgan Stout and Shelby Buster each scored 19 points as Madison defeated Lebo to earn third place.
Stout scored nine of her 19 in the fourth quarter, when the Bulldogs scored 23 to erase a seven-point deficit after three quarters. Morgan Laflin put up 23 in a losing effort for the Wolves.
Madison girls 55, Lebo 50
Madison 10 13 9 23 — 55
Lebo 13 20 6 11 — 50
Madison (10-4) — Ratcliff 1, Bond 2, Schankie 6, Stout 19, Ballard 1, Buster 19, Bybee 1, Titus 6.
Lebo (10-4) — Hase 6, Jones 1, Robke 3, Schlesener 11, Tastove 2, Laflin 23, Eagleburger 2, Robertson 2.
Waverly girls 50,
Burlingame 41
Waverly’s Lady Bulldogs earned fifth place with a victory over Burlingame, with senior Brenna Wilson putting up 17 points to lead the way.
Burlingame led 32-27 entering the fourth quarter, but Waverly blew the game open by putting up 23 in the closing eight minutes. Sarah Coursen added 13 for the Bulldogs. Meghan Atchison scored 13 to lead Burlingame.
Waverly 50, Burlingame 41
Waverly 12 7 8 23 — 50
Burlingame 9 12 11 9 — 41
Waverly (8-7) — Wilson 17, Coursen 13, Meader 7, Zilliox 6, Fisher 4, Johnson 3.
Burlingame (7-7) — Atchison 13, Fagan 11, Creviston 9, Love 4, Greenwood 4.