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Versailles freshman Kami McEldowney picks up two of her 13 points in
leading the Versailles
Lady Tigers to a 54-43 victory over the Chippewa
Lady Chipps. The win propels Versailles into the
state finals Saturday
against Ottawa-Glandorf at 2 pm today at the Schott on the campus at
Ohio
State University. CNO photos by George Starks and Chuck Runner,
tigerballonline@netzero.net
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V-Lady Tigers
looking for state gold
Ottawa-Glandorf up next
By George Starks
COLUMBUS - It was just a year ago when the Versailles Lady Tigers
punched their way into the state championship game with a 67-60 win
over Fairland.
In the title game, Versailles would come up on the short end of a 49-37
score, losing to Columbus Africentric Early College.
The loss saw nine seniors saying good-bye as the 24-3 Tigers would fall
a game short of another state title in D-III.
The first and only state championship came in 2008 with Justine
Raterman leading the way.
Thursday, Versailles once again punched its ticket to the state finals
with a 54-43 victory over the now 28-1, Doylestown Chippewa Chipps.
“There’s obviously a lot of luck along the way,” said Versailles coach
Jackie Stonebreaker of her kids making it to the final again. “At the
beginning of the season, I didn’t know if we were mentally tough
enough. We kind of had a come to Jesus moment about halfway through the
season and I asked them if they just wanted to ride the coat tails of
the seniors from last year. They pretty much in their actions tol me
know and they turned it around the second half of the season. They
started playing some good basketball and I think it’s really rolling
right now.”
Chippewa came in as the number one D-III team in the state and a big
three point shooting team.
Thursday, the Chipps were 3 of 17 from beyond the arc for a miserable
17.6 percent.
Unable to follow up with the rebounds off those misses, it was the
Tigers height that dismantled their opposition.
“I think our length frustrated them on the threes,” Stonebreaker said.
“Our bigs are rebounding machines. This one on my left (Taylor Winner)
is 5-9 and 5-10 on a good day. She’s a rebounding machine. She doesn’t
care how many points she scores, she wants to know how many rebounds
she has and that’s all she cares about. That’s what a team is about.”
Playing in the Midwest Athletic Conference (MAC), Versailles sees some
of the best offenses and defenses in D-III. Chippewa looked to run on
Versailles but the Tigers were ready for them.
“We’ve run against a lot quicker teams than Chippewa and I even thought
we were a better transition team than they were,” Stonebreaker
admitted. “So I really wasn’t scared with that game because I knew we
could beat them up and down the court. So I felt comfortable in the
transition.”
Freshman Kami McEldowney netted the first four points in leading the
Way for Versailles with 13 while Taylor Winner and Lauren Bruns tacked
on 12 each in support.
“She’s unconscious. She doesn’t know what she’s doing,” said
Stonebreaker of her freshman. “Her and Danielle (Winner, a freshman)
have no idea the impact they have on this team right now and the future
they have for themselves and that’s what you want out of a freshman.
You want them to step up and play the way they’ve played all season.”
Versailles never trailed and saw one tie on the night.
The Tigers led at all the stops, 17-11, 32-23 and 39-32 before posting
the 11 point victory.
When it comes to post season play, Stonebreaker spewed out some heavy
numbers in reference to her kids.
“I’m big on numbers,” said Stonebreaker. “On our team, with our 16
girls, including Logan Shemp, 15 of them dress, there are 47 state
appearances by these girls either by a team or individuals”
Stonebreaker pointed out. “I think that plays a big role when you get
to the post season.”
“It was effort, heart, desire,” said Stonebreaker. “Everything these
girls showed tonight. They were ready for this game. It goes all the
way down to my water girls, to my scout team, to my senior leaders, to
my coaches. Everybody prepared for them. You can measure height, you
can measure weight but you can’t measure the heart, desire and
determination these Tigers play with and that’s something they bring to
the table every day in practice.”
Versailles will hook up with Glandorf today at 2 p.m. for the state
title.
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Senior Taylor Winner shoots for two of her 12 points Thursday. Winner
had 10
rebounds in the Tigers victory.
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