×
×
homepage logo

Eudora outlasts THS girls in tournament consolation game

By Shawn Linenberger - | Jan 26, 2016

Senior Kaitlin Hall nailed a deep three to bring Tonganoxie within one possession at 40-37. But Eudora senior LeAnne Anderson scored two of her eight points on her next trip to the free throw line, which effectively sealed the Tonganoxie Chieftains fate in a 45-37 loss to the Eudora Cardinals in the first game in the consolation bracket of the Tonganoxie Basketball Invitational.

The loss dropped the Chieftains to a 1-9 record, while the win improved the Cardinals to 2-8.

Anderson’s game-sealing free throws were one of the few times the Cardinals had a successful trip to the foul line. For the game, the Cardinals shot just 13-of-36 from the charity stripe.

Both teams were cold from the field all game. Tonganoxie shot 13-of-49 (26.5 percent) and Eudora shot just 16-of-52 (30.8 percent). Although the Chieftains were pretty active with 16 offensive rebounds, but the Cardinals 26 offensive rebounds was the difference in the game.

“They were crashing the boards hard and we just weren’t blocking out,” Tonganoxie assistant coach Jodie Smith said.

Leading the way on the offensive glass for the Cardinals was senior Sadie Pittman, who had nine offensive rebounds. She was the team’s leading scorer and rebounder with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Fellow senior Liz Kendall also chipped in 10 points off the bench.

The game was a clash of two styles, with the Cardinals doing almost all of their damage on the interior, while the Chieftains did their damage from the perimeter.

“We try to encourage the girls if they’re open to take the shot,” Smith said. “A lot of times we rely on Taylor Lee to take shots but we’re trying to encourage everyone to be ready to catch and shoot because if they shut her down we need somebody else to step up.”

Lee struggled to just 2-of-9 shooting and five points, but sophomore Lauren Wilson was the Chieftains’s leading scorer with 11 points off the bench.

“She really stepped up,” Smith said. “She’s really been a bit injured and not scoring lately, but we had a good talk before the game and she came out and hit some key shots and had good drives to the basket. It’s good to see her back in the game after her hip injury.”

Both teams really struggled to score out of the gate, and Tonganoxie led 2-0 five minutes into the game. But both teams started to get it going on offense, and the Chieftains entered halftime with a 16-15 lead.

With the Cardinals up just 21-20 in the third quarter, they picked up the intensity in the paint and especially on the offensive glass, which sparked a 9-3 run to put them up 30-23.

After a pair of threes from Lee and sophomore Mia Bond pulled the Chieftains to within 30-29. The Cardinals responded with a layup despite a foul, but they missed the free throw, which resulted in Pitman pulling in another offensive rebound and converting a layup for a 34-29 lead.

In the fourth quarter, the Cardinals changed their defense from a 2-3 zone to a man-to-man defense that pressured the Chieftains in the half court and made it very tough for them to score. The Chieftains didn’t hit their first field goal until there was less than a minute remaining, and by that time, it was too late to overcome the deficit.

With seven teams in the tournament, Tonganoxie was to play a team outside the tournament field in the seventh-place game on Saturday, but those arrangements fell through. THS will add a game to the schedule in the coming weeks.