I really expected that SK’s line-up full of juniors and seniors would put enough pressure on the youthful Anderson that Woody could start fueling up Bus 18 for another trip to the beautiful News Inn in Bowling Green. It didn’t happen, Anderson’s youthful team handled the pressure and made shots. Anderson jumped out to a 6-0 lead and 16-4 end of first period lead and never would trail. SK’s nemesis for the game was shooting as the teams 4 missed lay-ups in the 1st quarter would be a foreshadowing of the rest of the game.
I was starting to think this game was going to turn into blow-out city like last year’s convincing win that SK posted over in the 8th Region final. That didn’t happen as SK showed some guts and clawed back to get within 2 points at half-time. SK would outscore Anderson by a 15-5 margin in the second and the half-time score ended up 21-19.
Anderson came out in the third quarter with an obvious adjustment to get the ball into the post and Sydney Brown. Brown scored on the very first play and would get a couple of more buckets in the third. Still, SK hung close and would get back to within a point in the third quarter at 36-35 after trailing 36-27. Things looked like they were turning SK’s way as Anderson had three starters with 4 fouls. SK was unable to exploit the Bearcat foul trouble and struggled on offense during crunch-time. Anderson would finally lose one player to a fifth foul but Brown was able to stay on the floor for much of the 4th quarter with her quartet of fouls. Anderson pulled away down the stretch and ends up with the double digit win.
SK has hung their hat over the last several years on stingy man to man defense. The defense was decent tonight but the offense was dreadful. SK hit only 12 out of 57 shots for 21%. Enough said. Anderson would shoot a respectable 46% for the game. SK would also lose the rebounding war by a 41-32 tally. Anderson would commit twice as many turnovers as SK but the conversion to points just didn’t happen.
The fan support was strong once again. However, there were lots of disappointed fans besides me that were looking forward making another trip down to Diddle Arena for the Sweet 16. I really thought even after SK lost to Walton in the District Finals that they would still come out in the region. It didn’t happen but congratulations are due to Anderson. Their young team played like veterans and gave the Pioneers a taste of their own strong defense.
Congratulations to SK and their seniors Kristen Pace, Alli Ponzer and Nikki Brown. You had a season much better than a lot of people expected and you were just a bad game away from another state run. Good luck to you the rest of your school year and with your spring sports.
Anderson, good luck at the Sweet 16 and enjoy your the entire experience.
SK Seniors!
Kristen Pace
Alli Ponzer
Nikki Brown
Reversal scored...2 points.
Alli trying to guard Brown.
Nikki trying to grab a rebound.
Alli getting to the cup.
Kayla did a nice job of sticking her nose in and trying to draw the offensive foul during the tourney.
Wainscott got a little down on herself early but played strong down the stretch.
