DIVISION III GIRLS: Lions’ bid for state final falls flat; Lincoln County advances
Calvary Chapel’s girls basketball team won 23 of its first 26 games this season.
The Lions, though, will be at a loss to describe what happened in the final two.
After coming out flat in a loss to Lincoln County last Saturday in the Division III Southern League final, Calvary Chapel fell into a big hole and never recovered Friday, falling to Pershing County, 61-36 in a state semifinal at Orleans Arena.
Pershing County (30-2) will meet Lincoln County (18-11) for the state title at 11 a.m. Saturday at Orleans Arena.
“We’ve never been in this setting,” Calvary Chapel coach Kelli Miller said. “The last two games they haven’t played like they did all season, and that’s a bad time to not play well.”
The Lions (23-5) had no answer for Pershing County senior, Sarita Jo Condie, one of the state’s best players at any level.
Condie hit from the perimeter, medium range and even posting up en route to 31 points and six rebounds.
She had 15 points in the first half to help the Mustangs race to a 35-14 lead.
“She’s a great player, an amazing athlete,” Miller said . “If we had played a little more as a team, like we usually do, maybe we could have stopped her a little more, but she’s just damaging.”
Calvary Chapel got a strong showing from Phallen Nelson, who pumped in 18 points, but the rest of the team struggled. The Lions shot just 16 of 53 from the field and had 20 turnovers.
“She’s just tough,” Miller said of Nelson.
The Lions have no seniors and expect to return everyone next season.
Lincoln County 49, White Pine 32 — The Lynx locked up White Pine in the second half, holding the Bobcats (19-11) to a woeful 4 of 26 from the field with 15 turnovers in the final 16 minutes.
“Our biggest thing in the second half was boxing out and getting rebounds when they were on offense,” said Lincoln County coach Lori Cheeney. “That was the only thing we changed.”
Jaycee Wadsworth scored nine of her 13 points in the second half as Lincoln County built on a 22-21 halftime lead.
Kourtney Gloeckner added 10 points for Lincoln County, which made 9 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter to pad its lead.
Bailey Moore had 11 points in the first half for White Pine, but missed all 12 of her second-half field-goal attempts and finished with 13 points.
“She was our focus the whole time, we just managed to do it better in the second half,” Cheeney said.