Cold shooting dooms Lady Beavers against Girard

Emporia, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Sometimes you do everything right from the scouting report, but don’t see the results on the scoreboard. That’s what happened to the Scott City Lady Beavers Friday night in the Class 4A, Division II Semi-finals against Girard. Sure, it was going to be a tall task to knock off the favored Lady Trojans, but the cold shooting by Scott City didn’t do them any favors, as Girard pulled away from a 15-10 halftime lead to win 43-19 over the Lady Beavers, advancing them into their first-ever state championship game at White Auditorium. 

Scott City got the first points of the game just seconds into the contest, but a 9-0 Girard run put them into the lead for good. The Lady Beavers pulled to within 9-4 after the first quarter, and got to within 13-10 late in the first half. A buzzer-beating layup by the Lady Trojans pushed them to a 15-10 edge at the break, and they took off from there.

Girard (23-1) scored the first eight points of the second half, taking a 23-10 lead with 4:47 left in the third quarter. Scott City would see a 9:29 field goal drought in the second and third quarters, and that would ultimately doom them for the night. The Lady Trojans used a 15-3 third quarter run to take a 30-13 lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

In the final frame, the Lady Beavers would get no closer than 17 points, and hit only six field goals on the night. Girard continued their hot shooting in the second half, propelling them into Saturday’s championship game. They shot 12-19 for 63% in the second half. Scott City (14-10) would only hit 3-18 shots in the second half, and were just 6-37 for the game, good for 16%.

Girard would be led in scoring by Calea Augustin with 15 points and 15 rebounds, with all her points coming in the second half. Ashley Ray, the K-State signee, added 10 points. The Lady Trojans won the rebounding battle 40-27. Scott City was led by Bailey Latta and Emily Smith with three points each, with each of them getting all their points from the foul line. Nine different Lady Beavers scored at least one point in the game. They committed 12 turnovers in the game.

Scott City will play for third place at 12 pm on Saturday in Emporia against Andale. The Lady Indians are 13-11 after a 57-41 loss to Jefferson West on Friday in the first semi-final game of the day. Girard and Jefferson West (15-8) will play for the title at 4 pm.