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For the second time in school history, the Versailles Lady Tigers
brought home the gold. In 2008, Versailles
claimed the state title and
once again, Versailles has risen above the rest. Saturday, the Tigers
knocked off
Ottawa-Glandorf 49-46, claiming the D-III state title. CNO
Photos by Chuck Runner. tigerballonline@netzero.net
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Versailles wins
second state title
Lady Tigers hold off Lady Titans
By George Starks
Columbus-It was one year ago when the Versailles Lady Tigers had their
hopes dashed in the state semi-finals.
In the 2014 title game, Versailles would come up on the short end of a
49-37 score, losing to Columbus Africentric Early College.
Versailles and head coach Jacki Stonebreaker wasn’t about to let
history to repeat itself.
With time about to expire and Versailles holding a 49-46 lead,
Ottawa-Glandorf senior Danielle Schroeder launched a desperation trey,
in hopes to tie things up with Versailles and take a trip into overtime.
That shot would severely miss the mark as the final horn would sound,
sending the Tigers home with their second ever state championship.
Leading most of the game, Versailles was forced to hold off a hard
charging bunch of Titans but it wasn’t all Versailles in this one as
Ottawa-Glandorf started with the upper hand in the game, taking its
largest lead of the game in the opening minutes of the first quarter,
6-2. Versailles responded with Puthoff, Taylor Winner, Bruns, Camille
Watren and Lauren Monnin each scoring first quarter points as the
Tigers led 14-12 at the end of one.
Versailles went up by as much as 20-15 in the second before O-G broke
through, gaining a tie at 20 points each.
The Titans would go up for a brief stint, 24-23 but with some solid
offense from Puthoff lat in the half, Versailles would claim a 25-24
advantage at the break despite a shot by Schroder before the buzzer
sounded.
By the end of the third quarter, Versailles held a nice, but tight,
34-28 lead.
With eight minutes remaining, Stonebreaker knew.
Ottawa-Glandorf played tough defense in the half court,” Versailles
coach Jacki Stonebraker said. “They didn’t pressure as much in the full
court.I felt like it was our game to be taken, Stonebraker said. “I
felt like, especially in the second quarter into the third and fourth,
they weren’t pressuring us like I thought they would in the full court.”
Versailles kept the heat and by the middle of the final frame, the
Tigers held a nine point lead at the 4:35 mark of the game, 43-34.
The never say die Titans in turn went on a 7-0 spurt of their own,
getting to within a 43-41 count.
It was a sweet trip for senior Lauren Bruns as she recalled the 2014
state runner-up day.
“Right when I got that silver medal and a guy asked me, ‘Where are you
going to play your last game at next year?’ and I said, ‘Right here. Me
and Christa brought it up today. She said, ‘You remember that one
time?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I sure do.’ So it was kind of ironic to
be here. When the season started, I didn’t know how it was going to
shake out, but we’ve had some great players step up. I can’t stress
that enough. And some just big-time plays at clutch moments that we
turned an average team into a phenomenal team. It’s indescribable. I
was telling someone out there, it’s not only just like for the team
where you feel on top of the world, but when you look up at that
community – the whole town of Versailles had to be empty today because
you look up there and you know you made everyone proud, and I think
that’s a huge thing for us. And you see the little girls in the stands,
and that’s where I was in fifth and sixth grade. I was either sitting
on the bench being the water girl or I was up in the stands, and I just
thought it was so neat. And I think that’s a huge thing for little
girls to see that. I think it’s a great thing for us to experience this
because not many people do, and I’m so excited to bring the title back
home to Versailles.”
Bruns led Versailles with 16 points in the state championship victory
while freshman Shelby Hyre netted 12 and Taylor Winner 10 in support
Versailles will lose four seniors as Bruns, Hyre, Puthoff and Winner
will go out as state champions.
Stonebreaker praised her four seniors.
“What these seniors did was wrap their arms around the younger kids
because that doesn’t always happen in high school basketball,”
Stonebraker said. “You’ve got an 18 year old playing with a 14 year
old. They don’t talk to each other in the middle of the day, they don’t
go out on weekends, but yet they were able to come together on the
court and play some really good basketball.”
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Versailles senior Lauren Bruns led the Tigers with 16 points in her
last game in a
Versailles uniform, taking home a state title.
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