Lady Eagles Ignore Seed To Clinch Basketball District Title

 

The Lady Eagles basketball team returned from the Class 3, District 13 Tournament at Cole Camp High School with the tournament title in hand with a win over top-seeded Stover in the first-place game by the final score of 49-43 Friday, Feb. 27.

The title win by this year’s district No. 3 seed marks the first district championship for the Lady Eagles basketball program dating back to the 2008-09 season, and was secured following a first-round win over No. 6 seed Windsor and a semifinals victory recorded against host team No. 2 seed Cole Camp.

“Stover’s a really good team, so we tried to stick to consistency tonight,” said Holden girls basketball head coach Todd Shanks as he noted the team leaned on its zone defense. “That’s kind of been our bread and butter this nice little win streak we’ve been on. We kind of stuck to that and stayed true to it.”

Lady Eagle senior guard Addy Campbell scored a game-opening basket and backed that up with a field goal and bonus free throw for an early 5-4 Holden lead.

Late baskets in the opening period from senior center Lilly Carver and sophomore guard Savannah Dilday ended scoring in the opening period to leave the No. 3 seed Lady Eagles down 11-9 to the top-seeded Lady Bulldogs.

“We kind of stuck to an attack,” said coach Shanks. “We settled for some shots in that first quarter, went on attack mode from then on out, and just kind of got some good shots in the paint.”
Lady Eagle sophomore guard Karleigh Tevis halted a 4-0 Stover run at the start of the second quarter by draining the first of two three-point buckets she would make in the period. The second trey from Tevis gave the Lady Eagles their first lead since early in the opening frame. Tevis’ triple was followed by a two-pointer from senor guard Raylene Rodgers that allowed Holden to take a 21-17 lead into the halftime locker room.

The defensive effort by the Lady Eagles limited key Stover players Mia Rowland (No. 11), Tegan Morris (No. 20), Rory Pinzke (No. 10), and Gabby Sidebottom (No. 2).
“I hate to just keep on harping on defense, but it starts there,” said coach Shanks. “It’s identifying 10 and 11, staying down on 20, staying down on 2, keeping that big girl out of the paint, boxed out. The girls did a really good job. I couldn’t ask for a better effort than that.”

Carver pulled down an offensive rebound and scored the first of four points posted by the senior center in the period to start scoring in the frame.

Sophomore center Bella Haggard blocked a Lady Bulldog shot seconds later. A bucket from Tevis gave Holden a 25-19 lead.

“Karleigh’s been huge for us,” said senior guard Campbell. “She’s battled through some stuff, but just her confidence and skill level has just been increasing day-by-day and that’s what we need from this team. We need somebody to continue to step up. Bella’s been working really hard on getting offensive rebounds, or just defensive rebounds. I thought tonight Bella’s defense was outstanding. She didn’t let anybody drive baseline. Bella didn’t let that happen tonight, so I think she stood up in a great way and Karleigh is just continuing to knock down open shots off of my drive, you know, just working the defense, making them pay for not guarding her, she’s been lighting it up, and I hope she continues to play with that confidence and we all just continue to play for one another. I think that’s where we’re getting so much success. We’re playing for one another. We’re not ready to be done yet.”

Campbell followed Carver’s second basket of the third quarter with a field goal and a made bonus free throw when Campbell was fouled, and a late two-pointer before Sidebottom hit a three-pointer for Stover that set the score at 34-27 to start the fourth.

Carver would finish the game with six total points after scoring 15 points against Windsor in Holden’s first-round game, and six points against Cole Camp in the semifinals.
“I just think the focus is just doing it for my team, you know, just getting in the rhythm, like being confident in my shots knowing I’m on that court to shoot and make my shots,” said Carver. “My teammates have set me up. It’s all because of them. I just happen to be in the right spot, they pass me the ball and it goes in, and they set me up right and I get there. I think just that, knowing where I’m at on the court, and having that court awareness helped me.”

Campbell extended Holden’s 34-27 advantage at the start of the fourth quarter to nine points on a field goal to start the frame and offset four following points from Stover with four of her own.

Tevis connected on a free throw near the midway point of the period to help Holden to a 41-34 lead.

Following a three-pointer from Pinzke, Stover resorted to fouling late in the fourth quarter to extend the clock.

The final foul for the Lady Bulldogs send Campbell to the charity stripe with 0:03 showing on the game clock. Campbell stepped to the free throw line and knocked down her two attempts as she closed out the fourth quarter with eight successful foul shots out of 10 attempts.

Campbell’s final foul shots helped secure the first district title for the Lady Eagles basketball team in 17 years.

“Two-thousand nine…my mom told me that this morning, and I was like, ‘Dang,’” said Campbell after the game as she described the offensive strategy that led to the win. “Honestly, we were just coming out, getting settled in. I figured out they were in 2-3, so then, just get the ball to the high post, and just get the ball from there, Lilly make a move, get to the basket, or we’ve got to penetrate the zone to get open shots for other people.”

As noted, Carver finished with six points in the win. Campbell scored a game-high 26 points, and Tevis followed with 11 points.

“Our saying right now is, ‘One-and-oh,’” said Carver. “Every single game we go in it, it’s 1-0, 1-0, so that’s just our goal at the end of the day, just to win that game, focus on that game, don’t focus on what’s next, focus on what’s in front of you and really just coming together as a team, lifting each other up, that’s been so essential, and at the end of the day, we know we our potential and we can reach that. If we reach that, who cares about our record. At the end of the day, it’s all about how we do in the postseason, how we’re doing now, and just making the most out of every single game and every single minute and just pushing each other to be there for each other through it all.”

The district title win puts the Lady Eagles on a four-game win streak dating back to the team’s regular-season finale when the Lady Eagles beat Higginsville as the Holden girls basketball team collects its first district title plaque in nearly two decades.

“It’s been 17 years, so what these girls have done for their school, nobody can take it away from them,” said coach Shanks. “It’s going to be on a banner somewhere. I’m happy for them because I’ve told them before, I saw this potential in them back in October when we had our first basketball meeting before we even got the balls out. I told them in that classroom, I said, ‘This is the most talented team I’ve ever coached,’ and I said, ‘That makes me nervous because I’ve got a big job to do.’

“I just love all these girls to death. It’s just watching them turn into this at the right time, just what I envisioned the whole time,” continued coach Shanks. “It’s just been big for them, big for the school, big for all the little girls that are here watching tonight from Holden.”

For Holden, Campbell had the game-high 26 points, Tevis totaled 11 points, Carver scored 6 points, Rodgers scored 4 points, and Dilday scored 2 points.

Lady Eagles Move Past District Host Team
The Holden girls basketball team gained entrance into the district title game by defeating No. 2 seed Cole Camp by the final score of 54-48 in the semifinal round Wednesday, Feb. 25.

Cole Camp held an 18-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Holden scored a 14-11 advantage in the second period to trail 29-27 at halftime.

After Cole Camp posted a 12-9 advantage in the third quarter, Holden moved to the win by scoring an 18-7 advantage in the fourth quarter.

For Holden, Addy Campbell scored 30 points, Karleigh Tevis scored 12 points, Lilly Carver contributed 6 points, and with 3 points each were Raylene Rodgers and Savannah Dilday.

Holden Handles Windsor
The Holden girls basketball team worked to a win over Windsor by the final score of 43-28 in the first round of district play Monday, Feb. 23.

Holden led 12-3 at the end of the first quarter, 26-12 at halftime, and 37-20 at the end of the third.

For Holden, Addy Campbell scored 19 points, Lilly Carver scored 15 points, Karleigh Tevis scored 6 points, Bella Haggard had 2 points, and Savannah Dildah scored 1 point.

Record And Postseason Update
Following three wins in the district tournament, the Holden girls basketball team held an overall record of 9-18 on the season.

The Holden girls basketball team played Lone Jack in the sectional round of the Class 3 Girls Basketball State Tournament on Monday, Mar. 2 at Santa Fe High School. Game results were not available at press time. With a win in the sectional round, Holden would advance to the quarterfinal round for a game on Friday, Mar. 6 at Oak Park High School at 6 p.m. versus the winner of the sectional game between Bishop LeBlond and South Harrison.