LONE TREE

A season’s played for moments like these.

The Lone Tree Lady Lions impressive regular season concluded at 18-3 with a first-place tie in the SEISC North Division.

Their 18 wins tied for the second most in the program’s history and their shared divisional title was the first for any Lone Tree girls’ team since the 2003-04 basketball squad.

“18-2 [now 18-3] is nothing to bat an eye at,” Lone Tree head coach Ryan Shelman said. “[I am] really proud of our girls. The playoffs are a snippet of your season at the end of the year, but a conference or a divisional championship, that’s the body of work throughout the entire season. Our girls really deserve it.”

Now, they can reap the rewards.

The playoffs tip-off between the Lady Lions and the Winfield-Mt. Union Wolves (4-14) on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. in the comfort of home. The last two times these two faced, Lone Tree was the victor, 67-26 on Nov. 21, 2023, and 64-46 on Jan. 5, 2024, a season sweep.

Lone Tree is reliving a storyline: an impressive regular season and a first-round matchup against a weaker opponent.

However, the Lady Lions fell to the Midland Eagles, 56-47, a year ago. They’ll be looking to re-write the script this year.

They’ll enter with the deadly Finley Jacque who averages 15.9 points per game and had a 334-point season, double that of all other Lone Tree shooters.

But the Wolves have a weapon of their own: Madisen Kellogg. The sophomore averaged 16.7 points per game and had 300 on the year, triple that of the next Wolf shooter.

On the newsprint, it’s simple; if Lone Tree shuts down Kellogg, they’ll see the light of round two. If not, it could be a long night, up in the air.

Lone Tree has shown throughout the season that their defense can be a brick wall. Rarely have shots fluttered through the fold.

This is a good sign of things to come.

WACO 45, Lone Tree 42 1/30

On Lone Tree’s second annual pink out night, they hosted the WACO Warriors (11-8) for their final regular season matchup.

The game of ups and downs concluded in a 45-42 Warrior upset win, breaking Lone Tree’s 15-game win streak.

After a tight first quarter ended in a 10-7 Lone Tree lead, WACO started to slowly build back. By the middle of the second, WACO secured a lead and never gave it up, leading 27-20 at halftime.

Lone Tree’s best quarter was the third, scoring 15. WACO still outpaced Lone Tree, putting up 18 to hold a 45-35 lead.

The final frame of action was chaotic.

WACO did not score a single point with countless chances. Lone Tree scored seven and fouled countless times trying to get the ball back. When they found themselves on the offensive, WACO’s defense boxed out any chances from within.

WACO failed to convert every free throw they had, begging Lone Tree to mount a comeback.

With time running thin and both sides missing the net, Jacque strung up a solid defensive performance, stripping the ball and waltzing down the court for a layup, sparking the crowd of Lone Tree faithful.

Lone Tree’s final points came with less than a minute. The sequence started with Avery Lisk who knew time was a factor as she raced down the court, finding Ava Christofferson all alone, banking a field goal.

Christofferson would find herself with the ball once more, chucking it towards the net as time expired.

The Warriors won 45-42.

The SEISC Shootout: Holy Trinity Catholic 50, Lone Tree 26, 2/3

In the conference shootout matchup between the Lone Tree Lady Lions and the Holy Trinity Catholic Crusaders (17-2), the Crusaders came out on top with a 50-26 victory.

The game took place at Southeastern Community College’s Loren Walker Arena in West Burlington, Iowa on Saturday, Feb. 3.

The usual suspects led the Lady Lions. Jacque scored 10 points and had one assist. Sophomore Alyson Ford scored six with 10 rebounds and one assist. Junior Cate Sexton scored six as well. Additionally, junior Vivian Zaruba had nine rebounds.