SIGOURNEY

Battling back on the road in the semifinals, the Lady Lions were on the cusp of completing an incredible comeback, but in the final frame Sigourney did just enough to make sure victory didn’t escape them.

Providing a counter-punch when needed to keep Lone Tree at bay in the fourth, Sigourney (19-5) came away with a 64-60 1A regional semifinal win over the Lady Lions (20-4) last Friday.

“I have never been so proud of our girls for their grit. A few more baskets or a couple of more rebounds and the game might have gone a different way,” Lone Tree head coach Ryan Shelman said. “All in all I thought our girls left it all out on the floor and represented the school and Lone Tree well. I am proud of these girls!”

Starting off hot on their home court, the Savages teased a potential blowout in the first quarter with a 22-6 run.  Lone Tree’s deficit rose to as many as 18 in the second quarter.

“When you have two evenly matched teams and you’re the road team in this important of a game, you have to bring your own energy and calm your own nerves,” coach Shelman said. “Unfortunately, we got off to a slow start and Sigourney shot it lights out early on.”

Trailing by 16 at the half, Lone Tree had some work to do if they wanted its season to continue. Starting down the path of the comeback trail, the Lady Lions rallied in the third to lower its deficit to seven with only the final frame left to play.

“I thought our team showed a lot of resilience. I challenged our team to not give up, our girls battled the remainder of the game,” coach Shelman said. “I thought our defense really started to wear on [Sigourney] late in the game.”

The comeback flame for Lone Tree burned its brightest in the fourth, going on a 15-11 run to lower the deficit to as little as three. 

“Our shots started to fall in the second half. As the game progressed we started to execute on that end much better,” coach Shelman said. “We let the game come to us and started playing more downhill towards the basket and were able to play inside out.”

Scoring eight of her team high 19-points in the fourth was Finley Jacque. The junior guard played phenomenally on both sides of the ball against the Savages, leading Lone Tree in assists (4) and steals (4).

“Finley played a great complete game, she was outstanding both offensively and defensively,” coach Shelman said. “She is a great talent and she played a great game.”

Also coming up big for the Lady Lions was Cate Sexton as the senior secured a double double with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Lone Tree was on the verge of crossing the finish line of its comeback trail but unfortunately for the Lady Lions the fourth ended up being a high scoring quarter for Sigourney. The Savages put up 20 in the final frame to hold onto their lead and advance to the regional title game.

Sigourney senior Josephine Moore led all scorers with 24 and also brought down 15 rebounds to end the night with a double double.

Lone Tree’s first 20 win season since 2000-01 draws to a close and in the offseason they say goodbye to seniors Rylee Shield, Cate Sexton, Haley Bockelman, Vivian Zaruba, Hayden Yoder, Sami Branson, and Madison Floyd.

“I am so proud of the girls and especially our seven seniors,” coach Shelman said. “They have meant so much to this program over the last four years.  To get to 20 wins this year and 38-8 over the last two years these girls will be missed.”

GAME STATS

SIGOURNEY 64, LONE TREE 60

Sigourney  22  12   10   20 -- 64

Lone Tree    6   12   19   23--  60

Sigourney leading scorers: Josephine Moore 24, Brynn Clarahan 19, McKinley Chittick 12

Lone Tree leading scorers: Finley Jacque 19, Cate Sexton 15, Ava Christofferson 12

Sigourney leading rebounders: Moore 15, Chittick 8, Clarahan 6

Lone Tree leading rebounders: Sexton 13, Rylee Shield 10, Alyson Ford 5