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After leading for three quarters the Dupo High School Lady Tigers Varsity Basketball team watched their lead disappear as the Lady Knights of Metro East Lutheran High came back to outscore the Lady Tigers 17-6 in the final quarter to win the game 46-37 and take Third Place at the Dupo High School Cat Classic Basketball Tournament.
The game was closely played through out as both teams seemed evenly matched. While the Lady Tigers held the lead for the first three quarters it was never by more than a few points. Both teams sought to take advantage of the others mistakes and did. The Lady Tigers outscored the Lady Knights 11-9 in the first quarter and 11-10 in the second quarter. While the Lady Knights had still not taken the lead, they did outscore the Lady Tigers 10-9 in the third quarter but the Lady Tigers still led 31-29. Then came the fourth quarter. Dupo Lady Tigers Head Coach Jill Puckett said, “You need to look at how many of our players actually played in the game and then realize that they used two full lineups. After Taylor was injured we realistically had only one substitute left on the bench. Obviously that makes a huge difference and it’s going to take some time to adjust. It makes it hard to give players a rest especially when they’re in foul trouble.”
In an almost inexplicable manner the tables were drastically turned against the Lady Tigers. What worked for the Lady Tigers earlier in the game no longer did and the Lady Tigers struggled to find a rhythm. On the flip side everything was working for the Lady Knights. They were getting good shots and making them and they made their free throws down the stretch. As the Lady Tigers became frustrated they took bad shots, failed to make good shots and lay-ups and couldn’t convert at the free throw line. Coach Puckett said, “You could tell we were tired in the fourth quarter. You could see it in the way we drove to the basket, the way we were setting picks and our rebounding. They weren’t getting lazy, it was exhaustion.”
Unlike the game against New Athens earlier in the week where the Lady Tigers had three players in double figures, they only had one in this contest. Chelsea Scott scored 10 points, Kaitlyn Donald scored 8 points, Kim Chappelear had 7 points, Kelcie Ragsdale had 6 points, Kylie Hofstetter had 5 points and Taylor Bauchman with 1 point. While the scoring is balanced what is disappointing in those numbers is the absence of senior Margaret Davenport, the Lady Tigers main inside presence, from the scoring column. In addition the Lady Knights did a good job defensively against Hofstetter keeping her from driving into the lane where she gets many of her points and sets up Davenport as well.
Despite the disappointing finish in the tournament the Lady Tigers exhibited some talent and ability in the three games played and seem poised to make a run at the Mississippi Division Title in the Cahokia Conference. Coach Puckett said, “It’s been a long, hard week with so much other stuff going on. But we’ll come back for a week of practice and get ready for the rest of the season. It’s promising but we’ve got more work to do. I think we’ll do okay this year. We should compete in the conference this year.”
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