Jacqueline Schulte, Kristin Sherry, and Hallie Oelze all came through in the clutch against Cameron in the semifinal round of the South Harrison Tournament and Northeast beat the Cameron Dragons 46-44 to advance to the championship round. For Schulte, it was her fourth game-winning shot in a year; she had 25 points against a stingy Dragon defense, the best defensive team that Northeast has faced this year. And none were more important than her tiebreaking bucket with 57 seconds left that put Northeast in front for good after the Bluejays had lost the lead. Kristin Sherry, who had been a quiet role player all year for Northeast, doing all of the little things to make the team click, came through on the free throw line throughout the fourth quarter, hitting seven of eight from the line. And at the end when Northeast needed to make it a two-possession game, the bank was open for Hallie Oelze as she connected both times when she went to the line.
It was easily the most physical game that Northeast has played all year, with Blair Schmitz getting a badge of honor, a huge bump on her face from diving after a loose ball, to show for it. Anna Curtis, the best point guard that Northeast has seen this year, did all she could to keep Cameron in the game and give them a chance at the end. But Northeast continued their uncanny ability to win these close games that they showed both last summer and last year. "When Cameron took the lead on us, we kept right on playing," said Coach Ryan Davis. "We've had experience in these types of situations, and this is when confidence and team chemistry pays off."
Azalee Morgan hit two free throws to put Cameron up 2-0, but Blair Schmitz converted a 3-point play at the 5:38 mark in the first to put Northeast up 3-2. Kelly Thompson scored from inside to put Cameron up, but Schmitz went straight to the rim and Jacqueline Schulte posted up and took a high-low pass from Schmitz. Michelle Schulte then got a steal and missed the layup, but got her own board and kicked it out to Schmitz to put Northeast up 9-4. Raelene Blanton hit a free throw and back to back steals from Curtis tied it at 9 with 35 seconds left. But in an omen of things to come, Jacqueline Schulte drove the lane and beat the buzzer like she has so many times before to put Northeast up 11-9 after one quarter.
A critical play of the game happened in the second quarter when Blair Schmitz took a charge on Raelene Blanton, who picked up her third foul. This seemed to take the wind out of Cameron's sails, as the Dragons were much more effective when she was in the game. With Northeast doubling Curtis on the press, forcing the ball out of her hands, they were able to get a lead on the Dragons. Hallie Oelze hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key and then Schmitz hit a free throw at the 5:10 mark to put Northeast up 15-9. Blanton came back in at that point, but promptly picked up her fourth foul as Cameron was unable to mount a comeback bid in the period. Curtis' shot from the left wing cut Northeast's lead to 15-11, but Jacqueline Schulte tipped a missed shot to Michelle, whose putback went in; following a turnover by Cameron, Jacqueline knocked down a pair of free throws to put Northeast up 19-11. Cameron chipped away as Curtis hit from the top of the key and Morgan connected from the line, but following a long possession, Jacqueline Schulte drove down the right baseline with 46 seconds left and connected to put Northeast up 21-14 at the break.
The third quarter started off well for Northeast; Blair Schmitz, who had been playfully swatting away some of Jacqueline Schulte's shots during second half warmups, did so in earnest on consecutive plays. First, she swatted Curtis who was trying to attack the rim; Jacqueline Schulte went straight down the middle for the layup. Then it happened again as Schmitz rejected Kelly Thompson; on the ensuing possession, Schulte buried a 3-pointer from the right wing to give Northeast its biggest lead at 26-14.
At that point Cameron made some adjustments to get back in the game as they began pushing the ball up the floor and attacking the basket more. Baskets by Thompson and Caroline Lowenstein made it 26-18, but then nobody matched up with Jacqueline Schulte, whose layup with 4:06 left put Northeast back in front by double digits. But then Blair Schmitz got her bruise in the face going after a loose ball and had to sit out for the rest of the quarter. And following a free throw from Raelene Blanton, who was back in the game with four fouls, the Dragons went to a half court trap with some success. Curtis' fast break cut it to 28-21.
Jacqueline Schulte countered by driving on Lowenstein and drawing her fifth foul; she made both. She then made one out of two from the line to put Northeast up 31-21. Curtis got loose on the left baseline for Cameron, but Schulte got a steal and drive with 36 seconds left to make it 33-23. But then Cameron, who had been routinely beating Northeast's press in the last few minutes of the period, burned it twice as Skylar Miller twice got loose on the weak side for uncontested layups that brought Cameron to within six. "That was my fault," said Coach Ryan Davis; "The kids did great all night long; I should have taken the press off earlier when they were starting to break it like that."
Cameron had a chance to cut it to four, but missed two wide-open layups and Kristin Sherry, who had not scored up to that point, made her first two free throws to put Northeast back up eight. But Cameron still had the momentum at that point; Azalee Morgan and the rest of the Dragons were crashing the boards a lot more in the fourth than they were the rest of the game. Morgan converted a third chance bucket and later hit a pair of free throws to make it 35-31 at the 5:04 mark, still plenty of time. Raelene Blanton picked up her fifth foul grabbing Kristin Sherry's jersey and Sherry hit two more free throws with 4:42 left to make it 37-31. But even that play did not break Cameron's momentum as they began hitting from outside; baskets by Kelly Thompson and Skylar Miller sandwiched around a Northeast turnover made it 37-35 at the 3:01 mark. Kristin Sherry made one out of two from the line to make it a three-point game, but Morgan continued to work the boards, making three out of four free throws as Cameron finally knotted the game at 38 with 2:17 left.
Blair Schmitz fouled out and Kelly Thompson hit a free throw to put Cameron up 39-38, but then Jacqueline Schulte began taking over the game as she drove straight down the lane and drew the foul, connecting on both shots. She then got a steal and fed Michelle Schulte, but her off-balance runner was no good and Jessica Redden fouled Taeloree VanBrunt, whose free throw with 1:24 left knotted it at 40. Schulte drove down the lane again and missed this time, but Anna Curtis, who had been lights-out all night, made a rare mistake when she traveled, giving Jacqueline another chance. This time Schulte would not be denied as she drove down the middle of the lane once again. This time, she banked home her shot with 57 seconds left to put Northeast up for good at 42-40. And Schulte was not finished as she would come up with a critical play on the other end. Kelly Thompson missed a tough shot from outside that would have tied it and then Schulte pushed a Cameron player out of the way and got the defensive board for Northeast. On the ensuing possession, Cameron had to foul and Kristin Sherry was the Ice Lady as she connected for two more to make her total seven for eight from the line in the fourth quarter.
With 21 seconds left, Curtis drove down the right side and drew a foul on Hallie Oelze; she connected on both her free throws with 21 seconds left to make it 44-42. But then Cameron sent the wrong person to the line as the bank was open for Hallie Oelze; her first free throw banked home and her second was nothing but net to put Northeast up 46-42 with 15.8 seconds. Cameron pushed down the floor and got a putback from Azalee Morgan to make it 46-44 with 8 seconds left, but Curtis picked up her fifth foul as Michelle Schulte went to the line with 3.5 seconds. Michelle missed both her free throws but without Curtis, Cameron was unable to get the ball up the floor to get a shot off.
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