Lady Beaver rally falls short to Andale

Emporia, Kan. (westernkansas.com)–To say the 2015-16 season for the Scott City Lady Beavers is an improvement may be an understatement. While already doubling their win total from last year to this year, Scott City had their sights on a third place trophy and medals. Standing in the way were the Andale Lady Indians. Despite the slow start, the Lady Beavers had their chances, but ran out of steam in the end, as the Lady Indians claimed the third place trophy, with a 57-54 win on Saturday afternoon.

Andale started out on a 13-0 run to begin the game, as they hit six of seven shots after misfiring on their first two. Following a timeout, Scott City woke up and went to work, slowly chipping in to the Lady Indian lead, and pulled to within 15-9 after one quarter.

The run for the Lady Beavers would eventually be 25-7 over the course of an eight-minute span, and led 25-20 with 2:53 remaining before the break. Andale (14-11) would answer back with seven straight to take a 27-25 lead with 28.2 seconds left in the quarter, only to see Scott City close out the half with four straight in 15 second, as the Lady Beavers led 29-17 at the half. 

Scott City (14-7) opened up with the first two points of the second half to go up 31-27. After that, the Lady Indians used a 10-2 run to go up 39-33 with 3:12 remaining in the third quarter. The Lady Beavers would cut the deficit to 41-39 entering the final period.

In the final frame, Andale would build up their lead to 50-44 with 4:41 remaining in the game. Scott City got five straight points from Emily Smith to pull to within 50-49 with 2:31 left in the contest. That would be the closest they would get the rest of the afternoon. Turnovers and good shot attempts wouldn’t drop for the Lady Beavers, as Andale would ice the game at the foul line, going 9-14 in the final period. 

Leading the way for Andale was was Morgan Geist, who finished with 13 poitns. The Lady Indians shot 38.6% from the floor and were 19-26 at the foul line. They won the rebounding battle 35-30. Scott City was led by Macie Price, who had a career-high 23 points, while Bailey Latta added 13. The Lady Beavers were 36.7% from the floor, and shot 12-18 at the charity line. 

With the win, Andale is now 18-15 all-time in their 18th state appearance, and won their third, third place game. Scott City, who made their first-ever state tournament appearance, and are now 1-2 in tournament games. 

The Lady Beavers’ senior class saw a remarkable turnaround over the past four years, and have helped build another level to the foundation. Scott City finished with 14 wins, which were the most since the 2008-09 season, when they finished 17-5. In the prior three seasons, they won a combined 13 games.