by HILLSBORO, Kan. Head Coach Shawn Reed’s teams typically get stronger as the season goes along and this year is no exception. The first time through the KCAC schedule his Lady Bluejays were 4-3 at this point of the rotation. The second time through at the same mark, they are 6-1, including avenging two of their first-round losses. The first to McPherson College and the second came Saturday when the Bluejays avenged a 20-point first-round defeat at Avila by knocking off the Eagles 73-68 at Tabor.
It had the makings of a great conference battle right from the beginning. Tabor started on top early when Kasey Rice (Pawnee Nation) used a traditional three-point play to put the Bluejays on the board first. Teams traded leads throughout the first period of play. Tabor’s biggest lead was the three points at the start while Avila claimed a four-point lead with 25 seconds left in the quarter. Laney Swink (SO/Fort Gibson, Okla.)’s two-point bucket with nine seconds left brought the quarter to a close with Avila on top 11-9.
“We struggled to score in the first quarter as they sagged on us but Ashtyn did a good job of hitting some mid-range jumpers” said Reed after the first quarter of play.
The Eagles clawed out another four-point edge in the early stages of the second period before the Bluejays used a 13-0 run over the next 5:30 to take a 25-16 lead with just over three minutes of play in the half.
Tabor used six different players to score over the Bluejay run, including an Ashtyn Wiebe (SO/Elbing, Kan.) three-point shot to give Tabor the 19-16 lead. The lead hovered around the eight point mark the rest of the half. The Bluejays would extend their lead to as many as 12 points on two more occasions before the half ended with Tabor up eight at 34-26.
“I thought in the first half we played well. Guarding Bunn was one of our focuses. They got to the free throw line too much in the first half” said Reed. “I thought we defended the three in the first half really well. We scored 25 points in the second quarter and did a good job of taking care of the ball.”
Avila started the second half with consecutive turnovers but Tabor couldn’t grab firm control of the game quite yet. Although the lead hit 10 on a Kyli Burns (SR/Valley Center, Kan.) bucket in the paint, Avila stormed back to cut Tabor’s lead to only four points with just under seven minutes left in the third.
Wiebe and Sammy Jo Peterson (JR/Cottonwood Falls, Kan.) scored on back-to-back possessions, giving Tabor their biggest lead of the third period, 51-39, with under 1:00 left in the quarter. An Eagle bucket inside put the score at 51-41, Tabor, heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
Avila used a 6-0 run to get back into the game at the beginning of the final period. Every time the Bluejays threatened to pull away, the Eagles fought back, keeping it close in the final quarter. A Paige Bunn deep ball knotted the game at 61 with 2:51 left to play.
Tabor would slowly pull away again, scoring their final 12 points from the free throw line. The Bluejays converted 12-14 from the charity stripe to ice the win. Rice was 5-6, Lily Schamberger 1-2, Julissa Garcia (SO/Ponca City, Okla.) 2-2, Wiebe 2-2, and after consecutive three-point makes by Avila cut the game to just one possession with 11 seconds left, Zoe Shieldnight (SO/Gore, Okla.) capped off the win by calmly sinking two more free throws. The 73-68 victory was Tabor’s fourth in a row.
“We struggled in the second half when they pressed us late and trapped us. They made a run in the third quarter and then we were able to make a run. We went to a press two times and got some steals there so that was good “commented the head coach. “The second half we went to the free throw line a lot so that was good. We had a pretty big lead then they hit a few three’s but we went to the free throw line and converted so that was big.”
Reed was pleased once again with his play off of the bench, especially with a couple of his guards. “Lily came in and went 5-6 from the line and played really well for us. She had a big rebound, a steal and hit some free throws. Laney Swink continues to play well. She didn’t have a turnover in the game and was 3-5 from the back-up point guard position. She has come a really long ways and I’m really proud of her.”
It is always a team effort and sometimes that means helping each other out. “Our guards really carried the day for us this time and that hasn’t been the case a lot. On a night when our posts struggled a little bit it was nice that our guards were able to pick it up.”
Team Leaders: Points: Kasey Rice 15, Rebounds: Rice 4, Steals: Ashtyn Wiebe 3, Assists: Wiebe and Terran Hoyt (SR/Eureka, Kan.) 2, Blocks: none.
