Your Lady Pioneers are headed to STATE! Last Monday's challenge game was exciting, and these girls have earned their right to play in the state tournament.
They played the Lady Bearcats of DGSG. These ladies played 4 games in 3 days at Districts and then played 6 games in 5 days at Divisionals; that's 10 games in 8 days! Can you say, heart? Cause these girls have got it! They beat DGSG by 4 points with a final score of 56-52, punching their ticket to go to state!
When I asked Coach Travis how he felt going into this game, he said, "We came into Monday night's challenge game against DGSG, the 2 seed out of the 8C, having lost to them in both previous outings, once at home by 8 and then again at Denton by 24. We talked heavily about how difficult it is to beat a team 3 times in a season. We came into the game confident that we could hang with them offensively and that we would hang our hat on our defense. We knew DGSG was a young team with their best player being a freshman and two other girls that play substantial minutes are 8th graders. We hoped inexperience would benefit us since this was our 6th game at Divisionals."
The game was a little bit of a slow start for both teams, with the score only being 2-3 after the first 4 minutes of the quarter. The Lady Pioneers scored 9 points going into the 2nd quarter, with Eva Yeadon having 7 of those 9. The Lady Bearcats had 10 points.
The Lady Bearcats started the 2nd quarter with a couple of big buckets and pushed the lead to 5 points in favor of them. But Eva also had some big buckets, continuing to score for the Lady Pioneers, having 12 of their 14 points. Alex Worrall got her 3rd foul about halfway through the 2nd quarter. Still, after getting it, she put up a huge 7 points for the Lady Pioneers with some big boards, putbacks, and some free throws, putting the Lady Pioneers up 3 points under 10 seconds. Still, unfortunately, the Lady Pioneers fouled DGSG on a 3-pointer with one second left, and they knocked down all 3 free throws, going into halftime with a tied game.
Coach Travis told me a little about their strategy, "We played a hybrid defense against Becker, their main playmaker; we put Jenny Sant in single coverage against her the entire game, and we also brought in Sammy Bjornstad to play the same against her. Everyone else was in a trapping zone, depending on the location of the ball and Becker. It worked out in our favor as we knew we couldn't stop Becker completely, but we needed to slow her down and her ability to pass to open teammates. The entire team bought into the defense and did a great job with it."
The 3rd and 4th quarters were back and forth, but the Lady Pioneers had a 9-point lead at one point, but DGSG started pushing the tempo, getting some quick buckets and making a 6-0 run and coming within 1 point by the end of the 3rd quarter. The Lady Pioneers had a 4-point lead with 2 minutes to go in the game, and after some big made free throws, the Lady Pioneers took a 7-point lead, but DGSG wasn't done yet, knocking down a couple of crucial 3-pointers and coming within 4 points. The Lady Bearcats got fouled on a 3-pointer with half a second left in the game, down 6 points. They made 2 of the 3 free throws, and the Lady Pioneers ran out the clock and beat the Lady Bearcats with a final score of 55-52.
Also, from Coach Travis, "On the offensive end, the Lady Pioneers were led by Eva Yeadon with 21, Jai Baumann with 10, Galbavy with 9, and Lainey Terry and Alex Worrall with 7 each. Galbavy led the way with 10 boards, followed by Yeadon with 9 and Baumann with 7.
Galbavy led the team in assists with 4, followed by Terry and Baumann with 3 each. Galbavy led the team in blocks with 2. The Lady Pioneers had 12 assists on 16 made baskets for a 75% assist rate, which is an amazing team ball! The Pioneers also shot 72% from the free throw line."
Coach Travis also wanted everyone to know, "Every girl was able to play in the challenge game, which was a great experience for all of them. We hope to see you all on Thursday at 1:30 PM as the girls take on Twin Bridges, the #1 seed out of the West and the #2 ranked team in the State! We are very excited for the opportunity to showcase our team's talents and grit!"
Let's go, LADY PIONEERS!!
