Lady Savages fall inches shy of upset

The running floater from Summer Barthelman hit the rim, bounced up, and then fell away from the basket. If the shot would have fallen, it would've been a massive upset for the Lady Savages. It wasn't meant to be however, as the Lady Warhawks kept their undefeated streak alive with a 49-48 win on January 9.

Despite the hype of two high-powered offenses clashing, the first quarter didn’t meet the expectations of the packed gymnasium. Sigourney and North Mahaska started out shooting cold, partly due to defensive pressure, but mostly due to missed shots. It didn't help the Lady Savages that Autum Barthelman was called for two quick fouls in the quarter, as she tried to be aggressive early. Sigourney put up six points, while North Mahaska wasn't much better with eight.

"Both teams got off to a poor start, I think some nerves were involved," Lady Savages coach Zach Tremmel said.

Autum got things going in the ensuing quarter, as she knocked down an open three after multiple misses from beyond the arc. That also allowed her to find some success when driving at the basket, or shooting a mid-range shot. Any rebounds that Sigourney cleaned up on the offensive side were quickly put back up for points, which allowed the Lady Savages to take a lead. North Mahaska didn't back down however, knocking down some timely buckets to keep things close. At the half, Sigourney led 18-17, one of the few times that the Lady Warhawks had ever trailed in the season.

Offense wasn't an issue for either team in the second half, as they began to score points in bunches. North Mahaska went on a six-point run to take the lead, to which Sigourney responded with a seven-point run of their own. It went back and forth for most of the quarter, but Sigourney wasn't doing itself any favors with many missed shots. Still, the Lady Savages half onto a 36-32 lead with one quarter to go.

"It was a classic second half," Tremmel said. "Both teams made some big plays, they went on some runs but we answered them."

The back and forth shooting continued as both teams were either shooting hot or going on a cold spell. Just as it seemed North Mahaska might be pulling too far ahead, Leah Carter was able to knock down two huge threes to keep Sigourney within striking distance. Some big free throws were missed by Sigourney, which could have taken the lead late, but were still behind by a single point.

With no timeouts left, Sigourney inbounded the ball to Summer, who had some of the fewest shot attempts in the game. She drove the length of the floor and lifted up a shot just in time, only to see it bounce off the rim after the buzzer.

"I thought some of our secondary players made some big plays, we knew they'd try and defend Autum and Brooke as much as possible," Tremmel said. "This was a very tough loss and I told our girls no words would make this better. It's not going to define our season, we still have a shot at winning the conference title."

For the Lady Savages, it was a heartbreaker, while the Lady Warhawks continued their undefeated season as the number three team in the 1A rankings.

Carter had a team-high 12 points, converting on three of her five three-point attempts. Brooke Waechter and Autum were right behind her with 11 points each, and combined for nine rebounds, nine assists and six steals. Megan Stuhr chipped in with seven rebounds and six points, while Sloane Magill also had six rebounds and four points. Though she only posted two points, Summer led the team with eight rebounds, to go with two steals and one block.

Even though they lost, the Lady Savages were able to crack the top 20 rankings, finding themselves in the 17th spot. The girls went on to easily beat HLV 70-21 on January 12, before ending the week with the big matchup at Pekin.

Contact

The News-Review

120 East Washington
Sigourney, Iowa 52591
Phone: 641-622-3110
News: news@sigourneynewsreview.com
 

601 G. Avenue/PO Box 245
Grundy Center, IA 50638
Telephone: 1-319-824-6958
Fax: 1-319-824-6288
News: editor@gcmuni.net
Sales: registerads@gcmuni.net
 

Mid-America Publishing

This newspaper is part of the Mid-America Publishing Family. Please visit www.midampublishing.com for more information.