Class D-2: Ewing defends its crown
Saturday's Class D-2 tournament results:
Championship: Ewing 45, Pleasanton 44
--Tom Simons
Pleasanton did everything it could to stage a second straight second-half comeback in the Class D-2 girls state basketball tournament, but the Bulldogs couldn’t overcome defending champion Ewing on Saturday in the finals at the Devaney Sports Center, as the Tigers prevailed 45-44.
The Bulldogs (24-2) overcame a 12-point second-half deficit to beat Chambers in Friday’s semifinals. Saturday, they trailed from the first minute of the second quarter on and were down by as many as six points three times in the fourth quarter before rallying late. But this time, Ewing’s Hayley Thramer and reserve guard Amber Stanton combined to make 3 of 4 free throws in the last 23 seconds to hold off the Bulldogs.
Stanton, a 5-foot-4 sophomore, made the front end of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity with 13.1 seconds left to give Ewing what proved to be an insurmountable 45-41 lead.
“That free throw was scary. I was frightened to death,” Stanton said.
Pleasanton’s Cortni Shoemaker hit a three with 3 seconds to go, but the Bulldogs were out of time-outs and the clock ran out on their hopes.
“This is too hard on my heart,” said Ewing coach Brock Eichelberger. “We knew it would be a dogfight because they were one of only two teams to beat Chambers this year. We played good defense down the stretch and hit some big free throws.
“It’s an awesome feeling to win two straight (titles). We came so close in volleyball (losing in five games to Paxton in the final), and that makes this even sweeter.”
Ashley Axmann scored 19 points for Pleasanton to lead all scorers. Three different Tigers scored in double figures, led by Abbey Schueth’s 13 points. Tiffany Thramer and Hayley Thramer each added 11 for Ewing (23-3). Tiffany Thramer scored seven of her points in the fourth quarter.
“My shots weren’t falling the first three quarters, but I kept shooting and eventually got my rhythm,” Tiffany Thramer said. “Teams usually try to stop Abbey and Hayley, so I’ll get open shots.”
Ewing’s defense was again key to its win. The Tigers held Pleasanton to 35 percent field-goal shooting (14-of-40) and forced 26 turnovers.
“You’ve got to keep turnovers down and that was definitely something that hurt us tonight,” said Pleasanton coach Brenda Paitz. “We dug down defensively (during the comeback) and caused them to turn it over, but we relaxed offensively.”
The Bulldogs were also effective at the defensive end, holding Ewing to just 31.4 percent from the field (16-of-51). Pleasanton, which had an 18-game win string end, also had a 37-30 rebounding edge and got five blocked shots from 6-foot-4 sophomore center Laurel Zwiener.
Pleasanton had a 6-0 run to take a 6-2 lead in the first 3½ minutes, but the Bulldogs had trouble getting the ball up the floor and into their offense for more than 8 minutes after that.
Ewing filled that gap with a 17-2 run to build a 19-8 lead after a Schueth basket with 4:12 left in the first half. Schueth and Hayley Thramer each scored six points in the spurt, as the Tigers’ defense limited the Bulldogs to just three field-goal attempts during that stretch and forced 12 turnovers in the game’s first 12 minutes.
The Bulldogs finished the half strong, though, outscoring Ewing 9-0 over the final 4 minutes to close the deficit to 19-17 at halftime.
Third place: Falls City SH 57, Chambers 49 OT
Falls City Sacred Heart outscored Chambers 10-2 in overtime to earn a 57-49 win. Chambers had taken a 23-15 halftime lead before the Irish rallied. Katelyn Wheeler led Sacred Heart with 14 points, eight from the free-throw line. Randi Miller had 14 points for Chambers.
Championship: Ewing 45, Pleasanton 44
--Tom Simons
Pleasanton did everything it could to stage a second straight second-half comeback in the Class D-2 girls state basketball tournament, but the Bulldogs couldn’t overcome defending champion Ewing on Saturday in the finals at the Devaney Sports Center, as the Tigers prevailed 45-44.
The Bulldogs (24-2) overcame a 12-point second-half deficit to beat Chambers in Friday’s semifinals. Saturday, they trailed from the first minute of the second quarter on and were down by as many as six points three times in the fourth quarter before rallying late. But this time, Ewing’s Hayley Thramer and reserve guard Amber Stanton combined to make 3 of 4 free throws in the last 23 seconds to hold off the Bulldogs.
Stanton, a 5-foot-4 sophomore, made the front end of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity with 13.1 seconds left to give Ewing what proved to be an insurmountable 45-41 lead.
“That free throw was scary. I was frightened to death,” Stanton said.
Pleasanton’s Cortni Shoemaker hit a three with 3 seconds to go, but the Bulldogs were out of time-outs and the clock ran out on their hopes.
“This is too hard on my heart,” said Ewing coach Brock Eichelberger. “We knew it would be a dogfight because they were one of only two teams to beat Chambers this year. We played good defense down the stretch and hit some big free throws.
“It’s an awesome feeling to win two straight (titles). We came so close in volleyball (losing in five games to Paxton in the final), and that makes this even sweeter.”
Ashley Axmann scored 19 points for Pleasanton to lead all scorers. Three different Tigers scored in double figures, led by Abbey Schueth’s 13 points. Tiffany Thramer and Hayley Thramer each added 11 for Ewing (23-3). Tiffany Thramer scored seven of her points in the fourth quarter.
“My shots weren’t falling the first three quarters, but I kept shooting and eventually got my rhythm,” Tiffany Thramer said. “Teams usually try to stop Abbey and Hayley, so I’ll get open shots.”
Ewing’s defense was again key to its win. The Tigers held Pleasanton to 35 percent field-goal shooting (14-of-40) and forced 26 turnovers.
“You’ve got to keep turnovers down and that was definitely something that hurt us tonight,” said Pleasanton coach Brenda Paitz. “We dug down defensively (during the comeback) and caused them to turn it over, but we relaxed offensively.”
The Bulldogs were also effective at the defensive end, holding Ewing to just 31.4 percent from the field (16-of-51). Pleasanton, which had an 18-game win string end, also had a 37-30 rebounding edge and got five blocked shots from 6-foot-4 sophomore center Laurel Zwiener.
Pleasanton had a 6-0 run to take a 6-2 lead in the first 3½ minutes, but the Bulldogs had trouble getting the ball up the floor and into their offense for more than 8 minutes after that.
Ewing filled that gap with a 17-2 run to build a 19-8 lead after a Schueth basket with 4:12 left in the first half. Schueth and Hayley Thramer each scored six points in the spurt, as the Tigers’ defense limited the Bulldogs to just three field-goal attempts during that stretch and forced 12 turnovers in the game’s first 12 minutes.
The Bulldogs finished the half strong, though, outscoring Ewing 9-0 over the final 4 minutes to close the deficit to 19-17 at halftime.
Third place: Falls City SH 57, Chambers 49 OT
Falls City Sacred Heart outscored Chambers 10-2 in overtime to earn a 57-49 win. Chambers had taken a 23-15 halftime lead before the Irish rallied. Katelyn Wheeler led Sacred Heart with 14 points, eight from the free-throw line. Randi Miller had 14 points for Chambers.
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