After spending the week knocking off bigger programs, the Crest Lady Lancers finally found a giant they could not slay, falling to Eureka, 65-33, in the War on 54 Basketball Tournament championship game Friday.
Eureka, who came into the contest ranked in the top ten of the Kansas Basketball Coach Association’s latest poll, quickly established themselves with a 39-14 lead before halftime.
“In the beginning, it was ugly. Eureka plays so fast and quick,” Crest Coach Steve Zimmerman said. “As the game got going, we picked up the pace. Eureka has such great 3-point shooters. I told the girls in the locker room. ‘We don’t have this in practice.’ This tough schedule will help us make a run at sub-state.”
Zimmerman also did not let their shortcomings in the championship game take away from the strong showing in the tournament until that point.
“For us to get second in this tournament is huge. We’re the smallest school here,” Zimmerman said. “Beating a 3A team in Cherryvale and Iola and losing to Eureka, who may be a state champion, is amazing. I’m just so proud of my girls.”
Senior forward Josie Walter and senior guard Aylee Beckmon were Crest’s lone contributors. Beckmon scored five of her team-leading points in the first quarter. Senior guard Kaelin Nilges caught fire in the second half, including a pair of third-quarter 3-pointers. Nilges ended the night second with 10 points.
IN OTHER War on 54 action, the Humboldt Lady Cubs fell to Cherryvale in the third-place game 47-42. Humboldt’s record is 4-10.
Tuesday, the Lady Cubs host Anderson County, who fell in what may have been the biggest upset of the evening after the Iola Mustangs overtook the Bulldogs 35-32 in the fifth-place game.
“We had something click. And the last time we played Anderson County we didn’t have Zoie Hesse,” Iola coach Emily Sigg said, referring to their season-opener 17-margin loss.
“Zoie wrestled today as well, but she made it here by the middle of the second quarter. That helped. And offensively, we had some stuff click.”
Sigg credited Hesse’s efforts in the paint and freshman guard Cashin Curry, who orchestrated the offense with success. With the win, the Mustangs improved to 4-11 overall. They face Independence 6 P.M. Tuesday. Independence comes into the contest as the second-ranked 4A program.
“We just can’t catch a break there, but we’ll use it as an opportunity to get better,” Sigg said Friday. “This week, we focused on getting 1% better every game. Friday was 5% better, but 1% better is still the goal.”
