Lauren Null's gold team fell just short of the Lions All Star Classic Gold Medal after they had given Coach Tyler Pedersen's Black squad, including Jefferson standout Chelsea Merrigan, all they could handle. The Black squad, led by Merrigan, Trenton standout Rebekah Capeder, and South Harrison standout 6-footer Whitney Bennett, erased a 22 point deficit in the final 13 minutes in a repeat of the Mavs-Heat game in which Dallas did something similar in Miami. It was the Black squad that had only eight players, but it was the Gold squad who was done in by foul trouble as two of their players fouled out and one of their other players had four, opening the barn door for the Black squad to come back to win 61-59 after being down 48-26 at one point in the second half.
The mobile athletic bunch of Merrigan, Bennett, and Capeder along with coaches Tyler Pedersen and Quentin Albrecht of Trenton were supposed to be a well-oiled machine that would cruise to victory, but learning to believe in one's chances is half the battle and Lauren Null's unshakeable faith in her teammates seemingly gave them the mojo they needed to compete. Despite the Black team getting all the calls from the officials, it was the Gold team that jumped out to an early 11-4 lead. Six footers Lauren Ewigman and Samantha Kixmiller headed up the Gold squad and they were roughing up Merrigan, Capeder, and Bennett every chance they could get, poking and stripping the ball and forcing uncharacteristic traveling violations on the Black squad. They had their lead despite Black getting into the bounus less than 10 minutes into the game.
Black fought back to tie as the officials continued to give them calls and get them on the line, but Marceline produce Lauren Ewigman did all she could to help her team as she took a charge on Capeder and then buried a 3-pointer over West Nodaway product Kassie Jones. Meadville product Kellie Sargent then hit a shot over the much taller Merrigan to make it 21-12 with 4:23 left in the first half. Gold then lobbed it over Merrigan's head to six-footer Samantha Kixmiller to spark another run that made it 31-15 with 2:10 left. Black fought back and got on the line as Capeder and Bennett got going to make it 33-21 and Pedersen went to a 2-3 zone to slow down Gold, but Kearney product Michela Brinkley lobbed it backdoor to South Harrison product Tiara Pettijohn to make it 35-21 at the half.
Brinkley took over to start the second half as she knocked down a putback and an inside shot and altered a shot by Merrigan despite being much smaller; Sargent hit a shot from the top of the key to make it 44-25 with 15:40 left. Another Meadville product, Hillary Maberry, got an off balance 15-footer to go down and Brinkley got a fast break bucket as she went coast to coast, faked a defender out, and hit a fadeaway on the left baseline to make it 48-26 with 13:30 left.
But then the foul trouble began taking its toll as Kixmiller got her fourth foul and saw extended periods of time on the bench the rest of the way. That created all sorts of mismatches as Bennett, Capeder, and Merrigan all started getting open looks. Gold went through a four minute scoreless stretch as Bennett sparked a run with a drive to the basket; Capeder started getting out on the break; Lauren Ewigman picked up her third and fourth fouls as Black went on a 9-0 run to cut it to 48-35, capped by a play in which Bennett got a steal and fed to Capeder for a layup.
Kixmiller checked back in and hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to restore order for the time being, but Black kept coming as they were doing a much better job of getting out on the break. Defensively, they made an adjustment as they were doing a much better job of keeping the ball out of Brinkley's hands as she had been running the show for Gold. Capeder converted a 3-point play and then Nodaway-Holt product Jodie Holmes hit a 3-pointer with 4:14 left to make it 55-49 -- these situations were nothing new for her as her Trojans had played in a lot of close games all year.
Becca Zell went backdoor for Gold to make it eight points, but then Chelsea Merrigan went backdoor to Whitney Bennett and then Merrigan scored to make it a four point game. Following a steal by Holmes, Chelsea Merrigan drew Ewigman's fifth foul on a charge/block situation and made both free throws with 2:26 left. Zell missed two close shots over the Black skyscrapers and Black got the ball back. Tyler Pederson's calls for a timeout went unheard by the officials and that got his team a break as Chelsea Merrigan got out on the break and threw it to Capeder for a 3-point play to make it 58-57 .
Brinkley hit two free throws with 1:44 left to put Gold back on top 59-58 and Gold got a stop as Bennett traveled with the ball. But Tiara Pettijohn missed a 3-pointer and Whitney Bennett got behind the defense on the break. She missed her first shot but got her own rebound and drew a foul and hit both free throws for what turned out to be the game winning points with 1:10 left in the game. Kixmiller missed a 3-pointer on the other end and Bennett made an apparent jumper from 15 feet out that would have put her team up by three with 49 seconds left, but Pederson nearly pulled the same mistake as Northeast Nodaway did in the King City Tournament Championship as he called timeout right before Bennett's shot and the bucket did not count.
However, this time, it didn't matter. Black ran down the clock all the way down to 23 seconds and Merrigan hit one out of two at the line to make it 61-59 with 23 seconds left. Gold had two chances to tie, but they threw it away twice in the closing seconds and Black held on to win.
The Gold team set a team record in their first game as they beat the Purple team 63-53 as they set the record for most points scored on their way to win the preliminary game. The Purple team was a scrappy team that was powered by guards Hannah O'Donnell of East Buchanan and Janella Saling of Lathrop and Kelly Kern of South Harrison in the post. Among local faces on that team were Thea Sagun of Albany, Chandelar Carey of North Harrison, and Toshia Jones of South Holt.
But the size of the Gold squad was too much for Purple to handle as they jumped out to a 15 point lead. Purple fought back to make it 38-28 early in the second half, but then Brinkley and Sargeant got hot to push it back up to 15 again. After she had struggled in the first half, Lauren Null came in at around the 13 minute mark and played much more confidently, playing a good floor game, tying up a ball handler, knocking a ball out of bounds off Sagun, and getting a putback for her team.
Gold got into the bonus early, but Saling did all she could to get the Purple team back in the game, hitting a 3-pointer in transition to spark a run that cut it to 49-42 with 8 minutes left. Kelly Kern began to assert herself in the post as well. After a scoring lull, Saling scored off a steal to make it 49-44, but then Hannah Booth of Ridgeway got a drive and as Purple overextended trying to get the ball back and Booth got the ball into Kixmiller to break the run. Kixmiller then added a putback and Hillary Maberry added a shot fromt he left wing to get it back into double digits with three minutes left.
The White team, with Kristin Sherry and Emily Bryant, dropped an 84-66 decision to Coach Pedersen's Black team but came back to beat Purple 70-64 for the 3rd place game. Kristin Sherry and Emily Bryant were reunited with Ryan Davis, who coached Northeast to a 28-2 record their junior year. He was assisted by last year's NEN coach Eric Fairchild. South Harrison six foot standout Mysti Williams was on that team along with lightning quick guards Randi Blaser of Lathrop, Nina Pinkney of North Kansas City along with deadly shooter Morgan Vetter of Salisbury. Forward Sarah Emerson of Pattonsburg was a factor as well.
Morgan Vetter rewrote the record book for White in the first game as she had 22 points, six 3-pointers, and 8 field goals, all new records for the White squad. Both teams set team records for points in a game as both teams were happy running it up and down the floor. But the pace seemed to favor Black in the early going as Princeton product Cassie Teeter's transition 3-pointer made it 15-3 with 13:55 left. Black continued to pull away as Whitney Bennett's free throws made it 20-7 with 11:10 left in the first half.
Vetter did all she could to help her team as she knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to make it 20-13. But then Chelsea Merrigan got going and Jodie Holmes scored from inside to make it 26-13 again. The officials were giving Black all the calls in the world and they were taking full advantage; Capeder's free throws gave them their biggest lead at that point at 28-13.
But then Pinkney got going as she scored off a drive and got another off a fast break. And then Coach Ryan Davis came as close as possible to reuniting with Michelle Schulte in addition to Kristin Sherry and Emily Bryant as Randi Blaser, who is only 5 feet tall but lightning quick, started getting steals and scores. Blaser's steal and score with 4:55 left got the White team under double digits and Alex Goodwin of Lathrop followed with a shot from the left side set up by drive down the right baseline by Pinkney and skip pass to make it 30-24. Capeder's breakaway with 52 seconds left in the first half made it 37-28, but Vetter countered with consecutive 3-pointers to make it 37-34 at the break.
Mysti Williams had been held scoreless in the first half, but Vetter got a drive and lobbed it into her to make it a one point game. But then Whitney Bennett, who had missed a ton in the first half, suddenly got going for Black as she hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to get her team going as they used an 11-0 run to get the lead back into double digits at 50-38 with 15:10 left. Chelsea Merrigan scored six points as she was getting loose in the open court and Capeder added a steal. Nina Pinkney picked up her third and fourth fouls, which sat her on the bench and really hurt the team as she combined speed and size for the White team.
White hung around for a while as Emily Bryant came off the bench and gave them some good minutes, including a putback with 11:13 that made it 57-50. But then Chelsea Merrigan got going again, scoring six straight points for the Black team; Capeder added a 3-pointer and Whitney Bennett added a fast break as Pinkney's absence hurt the White team. Vetter went cold for the White team and Bennett had the hot hand, getting behind the defense to make it 74-56. The Northeast Nodaway kids came in to make a push as Emily Bryant made a nice fake and drove on a defender for a score and Kristin Sherry got behind the defense after Randi Blaser got a steal and threw it to her to make it 74-60, but free throws from Kassie Jones and Rebekah Capeder and a putback from Chelsea Merrigan following a steal put it out of reach at 80-60.
The White team held off the Purple team 70-64 to win the third place game. Mysti Williams was much more of a factor in the second game as she scored four points right off the bat, ran the floor well, and added a block as White opened with an 8-0 run. Randi Blaser added a fast break as did Nina Pinckney.
Hannah O'Donnell's 3-pointer sparked a run for Purple that made it 10-9, but Emily Bryant gave the White squad some good minutes; Alex Goodwin had a baseline shot and added a 3-point play in transition after Blaser had pushed it up the floor. Emily Bryant got behind the defense and Blaser threw a strike to her for a layup. After Emily forced a traveling violation, Goodwin got a back door pass from Blaser and added a drive as the threesome of Blaser, Goodwin, and Bryant were really clicking as the lead grew to 21-9. Goodwin had scored 9 out of her team's last 11 points.
Vetter then came in and got the hot hand as she hit two 3-pointers and hit a free throw after getting her own board off a drive to make it 28-14. Saling got a 3-pointer for Purple to break the run and the Purple team came back within striking distance as she did all she could to get her team going again to make it 32-24. Goodwin got a step-thru move to make it 34-24, but then Hannah O'Donnell got the hot hand for Purple, getting a drive; Saling added a pair of free throws to make it 34-29. Mysti Willliams got a fast break and Kristin Sherry got behind the defense as well to make it 38-29 before Saling's free throw made it 38-30 at the half.
South Holt product Toshia Jones scored to make it six, but Pinkney pushed it up the floor and Blaser got behind the defense to start another run. Sarah Emerson of Pattonsburg missed a 3-pointer but got a steal and two free throws as she stuck with the play; Mysti Williams added a free throw line jumper to make it 44-32. From there, White was able to hold off Purple's charges to win. Hannah O'Donnell's NBA 3-pointer made it 44-37 with 16:12 left, and she continued to have the hot hand. For White, Pinkney was once again stuck on the bench with foul trouble as Purple came back to within 48-45 with 12:12 left. But then Purple missed three tries to tie or come within one and then Randi Blaser pushed it back the other way and scored and Pinkney came back in shortly afterwards. Morgan Vetter hit a pullup 3-pointer and Nina found her open for another bucket and Mysti Williams added two free throws to get it back to 57-45.
Kera McKay of Osborn got a drive and hit an off-balance shot to spark a run for Purple and Hannah O'Donnell's coast to coast drive made it 57-53 with 6:40 left. But then Kristin Sherry broke the run with a drive and after Sherry forced a turnover on O'Donnell, Vetter got a free throw to make it 60-53. Pinkney picked up her fifth foul shortly afterwards and Purple chipped away again, coming to within 62-57 with 3:50 left. But they missed three tries to make it a one possession game after getting a steal and Makayla Vette of Rock Port hit two free throws to make it 64-57 with 2:20 left.
Hannah O'Donnell scored off a drive with 1:16 left and Saling almost made a game-changing play as she stole the ensuing inbounds pass to make it 66-64 with 1:10 left. But then White settled down and ran it down to 49 seconds before Blaser hit two free throws. Saling missed a shot and then Blaser nearly picked up a 10-seconds violation in the back court but was fouled right before that and hit another to make it 69-64. Saling missed a 3-pointer and Morgan Vetter got a leaping board with 17 seconds left and hit a free throw to make it 70-64 and O'Donnell missed a runner on the other end and White ran out the clock.
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