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Lauren Bruns is double teamed under the bucket as Anna gave it all it
had but in the end, Versailles went
on to a 59-47 win over the Lady
Rockets. Bruns finished the game with 18 points to lead the Lady Tigers
in scoring.
Versailles will play for the Regional Championship tomorrow
against Cincinnati Summit Country Day. The game
will tip at 1:30 pm.
CNO Photo by Chuck Runner, tigerballonline@netzero.net
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V-Lady Tigers
overcome tough Anna team
McEldowney gives much needed spark
By George Starks
SPRINGFIELD- The Versailles Lady Tigers punched their ticket to the
Elite 8 Wednesday with a 59-47 win over rival Anna in the regional
semi-final played at Springfield High School.
In a game that saw seven ties with Versailles holding eight leads and
Anna six, it was up and down the floor for 32 minutes.
“That was a track race,” said Tigers coach Jackie Stonebreaker. “It was
a fun game to watch if you’re an offensive type person. Defensively, I
wouldn’t call it stellar but Cayla (Bensman/Anna) had one of her games.”
Bensman scored 25 points on the night for the Rockets but only five in
the second half after blistering the nets for 20 in the first 16
minutes.
“I told the girls at the start of the game that she is a very streaky
player,” said Stonebreaker. “When she’s on, she’s on but when she off,
she’s off and she was on in the first half. I mean you’re looking at
step back three’s. Those were things she was making against Minster
when she had 32 points. So she can be very streaky. I love the girl and
I think she’s a heck of a player.”
On the Versailles side of the offensive fence, Lauren Bruns netted 18
to lead the Tigers but senior Christa Puthoff tallied 14 points and
yanked down 12 rebounds, eight off the offensive glass despite being
double and even tripled teamed at times.
“Her presence in the post made a big difference and she pulled down a
ton of rebounds,” Stonebreaker pointed out. “They collapsed on her
quite a bit but she could have had more but she didn’t finish like she
did in the other games. I thought she played a heck of a strong game to
have played 32 minutes.”
Look up the word cool and you may see the picture of Versailles
freshman Kami McEldowney.
With no time remaining on the first half clock and Versailles trailing
32-27, McEldowney heaved a three point shot at the buzzer.
The shot was way off its mark but the Tiger freshman was fouled.
McEldowney calmly sank all three of her foul shots.
“Those were huge free throws especially after she missed two or three
in the first or send quarter,” said Stonebreaker. “She stood at the
line with their student section behind the rim acting crazy, like
strippers and Kami really stepped up and hit those free throws. That
put us in a great position going into the half,”
Trailing by a deuce at the break, Versailles kicked in the defense in
the second half, holding Anna to 15 points while putting up 29 in the
second session.
“I never realized we held them down to only 15” said Stonebreaker with
a laugh. “That was better defense than in the first half.”
The rivalry between the two team has been an ongoing thing over the
years and Stonbreaker said she addressed her team on this before the
game.
“I told my kids that Anna was back and they weren’t going away,” stated
Stonebreaker. “It’s going to be a big time rivalry and I think we’ll be
going opposite brackets every year.”
Now 23-4 on the season, Versailles will turn its attention to
Cincinnati Summit Country Day Satruday. A win will send the Tigers to
Columbus and a shot at the D-III state title.
“They are very athletic and their point guard is a terrific ball
handler,” said Stonbreaker. “She’s quick and can get up and down the
court in probably two seconds. It’s going to be freshman on freshman
and it’s going to be a neat match-up. They have a good shooter that
loves to shoot the three ball. If you leave her open, she’s going to
drain it. They don’t have a lot of size inside and that works to our
advantage. We have to get the ball across half-court and we have to
take care of the basketball.”
Country Day was a 41-38 winner over Liberty Union and the Tigers and
the Silver Knights will clash at 1:30 pm.
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