Osgood Journal Sports
January 8, 2008

2008 Ripley County Girls Invitational Tourney action

Gary Franklin, Sports Editor

Game One
Milan Lady Indians vs Batesville Lady Bulldogs
Scores at quarter breaks
1st Milan Lady Indians 8-8 Batesville Lady Bulldogs
2nd Milan Lady Indians 23-18 Batesville Lady Bulldogs
3rd Milan Lady Indians 34-36 Batesville Lady Bulldogs
4th Milan Lady Indians 41-58 Batesville Lady Bulldogs

The Lady Indians fell to a 6-0 deficit prior to Jessica Wessler’s connection of 1 of 2 free throw attempts to get on the score board. They continued to work on the Lady Bulldogs, tying the game at six, then captured their first lead at 8-6. The Lady Bulldogs tied the game at eight, where the first quarter scoring ended.
In the second quarter, the Lady Bulldogs again took the lead at 11-8 before Lady Indian Becca Haugh made 1 of 3 FT attempts. The Lady Bulldogs added two more baskets to lead 15-9. That’s when the Lady Indians went on a scoring frenzy. Like a pool of sharks, they worked their prey, scoring 13 unanswered points to go into the lead, 22-15. Lady Bulldog Samantha Nobbe delivered a 3-pointer before Lady Indian Kady Alloway connected on 1 of 2 FT tries, ending the first half with the Lady Indians up five at 23-18.
The third quarter began with Batesville possession. Quickly, they scored a pair of FT’s and a FG, cutting the Milan lead to one. Lady Indians' Becca Haugh with a FG and Kady Alloway with another 3-pointer regained the lost ground, taking a six point lead at 28-22. The Lady Bulldogs scored six unanswered points to tie the game at 28, before Ashley Wuestefeld’s delivery of a three the old fashioned way to gain the lead by three at 31-28. Back and forth they battled to the end of the third, where the Lady Bulldogs enjoyed a two point, 36-34 lead, to end the third quarter.
The final quarter would be the unraveling of the Lady Indians' hopes as the Lady Bulldogs went on to win by 17, 58-41, advancing to the championship round against the Jac-Cen-Del Lady Eagles.
Game Two
Jac-Cen-Del Lady Eagles vs South Ripley Lady Raiders
Scores at quarter breaks
1st JCD Lady Eagles 17- 7 SR Lady Raiders
2nd JCD Lady Eagles 34-15 SR Lady Raiders
3rd JCD Lady Eagles 45-19 SR Lady Raiders
4th JCD Lady Eagles 51-28 SR Lady Raiders
The Lady Eagles opened the scoring with a long range 3-pointer by senior, Kiersten Young. Erica Ester put the first FG on the books for the Lady Raiders. After the 3-2 score early, the Lady Eagles rallied to a 17-5 lead, where the first quarters scoring ended.
In the second quarter, the Lady Eagles out scored the Lady Raiders 17-10 to take a 34-15 lead into the locker room at the half time break.
The third quarter began with a Lady Raider possession of the ball at mid court. Lady Raider senior Susannah Mann added a FG and teammate Erica Ester a pair of FT’s during the quarter's action, while the Lady Eagles put 11 more points in for a score of 45-19, heading into the final quarter of play.
In the final quarter, JCD controlled the opening possession. The Lady Eagles added six points to their tally, using the entire bench before the game expired. The Lady Raiders added nine points in the final quarter, also using their subs during the completion of the contest. The Lady Eagle victory allowed them to advance to the championship round against the Batesville Lady Bulldogs.
Girl's consolation contest
Milan Lady Indians 58-56 South Ripley Lady Raiders
Scores at quarter breaks
1st Milan Lady Indians 10- 17 South Ripley Lady Raiders
2nd Milan Lady Indians 25-30 South Ripley Lady Raiders
3rd Milan Lady Indians 35-42 South Ripley Lady Raiders
4th Milan Lady Indians 58-56 South Ripley Lady Raiders
The Milan Lady Indian win over the South Ripley Lady Raiders brought a string of 14 consecutive losses to SR to a satisfying halt for the tribe.
First Quarter
In opening the contest, the Lady Raiders controlled the center court tip and rallied for an 8-0 run before Lady Indian senior Kady Alloway answered with a FG. The Lady Raiders ran off another eight points when the Lady Indians managed to match it with an eight point run of their own, taking the score to 16-10. Lady Raider senior Kellie Collier finished the scoring in the first quarter with a connection of one of two FT attempts, to ending the first quarter SR 17-10 Milan.
Second Quarter
The second quarter found Milan in possession of the basketball. Lady Indian Alex Lewis scored a FG, to which Lady Raider Sarah Webster countered with a FG. Lady Raider teammates Susannah Mann buried a pair of FT's and Sealey Snyder scored her only point of the game with her connecting of 1 of 2 FT tries.
Lady Indian Kelly Stutler unloaded a long range 3-pointer, to which Lady Raider Alex Snyder scored two FT's for a SR 24-15 lead. The Lady Indians put together a seven point run to cut their deficit to two, with 3:39 remaining in the first half of play.
During the balance of the quarter, Lady Raider senior Collier connected for a FG, Lady Indian Kady Alloway delivered on a 3-pointer, and Lady Raider Alex Snyder made a pair of FT's followed by teammate Mann's FG to end the first half of play, Lady Raiders 30-25 Milan.
Third Quarter
In third quarter action, Lady Raider teammates Mann, Katie Polly, Ester and Jordan Vinup all added a FG each. Lady Indian scoring included a FG and four FT's by Jessica Wessler, while teammates Kady Alloway and Emily Schmaltz on behalf of an injured Kellie Stutler each added a pair of FT's from the charity stripe. The third quarter ended with the Lady Raiders up seven at 42-35.
The Finale
In the final regulation period of play, the Lady Raiders had possession of the ball. Lady Raider Vinup went on a six point run to advance their lead to 13 points at 48-35, with just under six minutes remaining on the game clock. Lady Indians Stutler and Alloway managed to score seven for the tribe before the Lady Raiders cut loose for another flurry of six points.
Between the time of a little over three minutes remaining to just under one minute, the Lady Indians rallied for a 14 point run to capture the lead at 56-54.
Lady Raider Ester connected for a FG to tie the game at 56 with 40 ticks left on the game clock. Milan called for a time out at 16.2 seconds. Lady Indian Kelly Stutler managed to sink a FG to retake the lead, 58-56, at the 7.1 second mark. The Lady Raiders used up a pair of time-outs in those precious few seconds, but could not find the answer to come up with a score, thus a hard fought two point Lady Indian victory of 58-56 over the Lady Raiders.
Girls' championship game
Jac-Cen-Del Lady Eagles 49-43 Batesville Lady Bulldogs
Scores at quarter breaks
1st Jac-Cen-Del Lady Eagles 10- 13 Batesville Lady Bulldogs
2nd Jac-Cen-Del Lady Eagles 24-19 Batesville Lady Bulldogs
3rd Jac-Cen-Del Lady Eagles 35-33 Batesville Lady Bulldogs
4th Jac-Cen-Del Lady Eagles 49-43 Batesville Lady Bulldogs
First Quarter
A tip controlled by the Lady Bulldogs led to a FG to put them on the board first, 2-0. Lady Eagle senior Kiersten Young nailed a 3-pointer, to give the Lady Eagles their first lead at 3-2. The Lady Bulldogs managed to add 10 more points to the Lady Eagles seven, ending the first period of play's score, Batesville 13-10 over JCD.
Second Quarter
Lady Eagles Ploeger scored 7, Harlemert 4 and Young 3 while Batesville's Ashley Wuestefeld scored 4 and Nobbe added 2 for a JCD 24-19 over Batesville at the half time buzzer.
Third Quarter
In the third period the Lady Eagles fought for an additional 11 points to the Lady Bulldogs 14, ending the period with JCD in the lead, 35-33 over the Lady Bulldogs.
The Finale
The Lady Bulldogs opened the final period in control of the ball and added 10 points. Lady Eagle Kara Harlemert erupted for five points, to which Becca and Valorie Wagner each added two, Kristen Hicks added 1 and Lady Eagle Kiersten Young made two along with Eagle senior Kaylin Ploeger, who also made two points. Thus a final score of Lady Eagles 49-43 Lady Bulldogs.
The 2007-2008 Lady Eagle basketball season run of perfection remains in tact to date. Good job Coach Smith and Lady Eagles!
2008 Girl's RCIT All-Tourney team
(as selected by a committee from the Ripley County Basketball Hall of Fame)
Jac-Cen-Del Lady Eagles; Kaylin Ploeger - (Tourney MVP), Kiersten Young, Kara Harlemert, Kristen Hicks and Becca Wagner. Batesville Lady Bulldogs; Ashley Wuestefeld, Amy Wuestefeld and Samantha Nobbe. Milan Lady Indians; Kady Alloway and Kelly Stutler. South Ripley Lady Raiders; Kellie Collier and Erica Ester.