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The St James Lady Trojans defeated the Holy Childhood Lady Apaches, coming from behind to win in exciting fashion, in double overtime 38-34. The contest was close for a half and then saw the Lady Trojans almost throw the game away only to come from behind and push it to two overtimes before getting the win.
Early on Holy Childhood asserted themselves using their height advantage to gain an early 4-0 lead. The Lady Trojans went with full court pressure early but were having difficulty scoring off of Lady Apache turnovers. The Lady Apaches were doing a good job early rebounding at both ends of the floor and denying St James second chances at scoring. It became a see saw battle as Holy Childhood took a 6-5 lead after the first quarter.
The second quarter was similar to the first as the Lady Trojans kept up the defensive pressure and the Lady Apaches continued to dominate inside play. However, the Lady Apaches were fouling and that had the Lady Trojans in the bonus midway through the second quarter. Fouling would be an issue later in the game for Holy Childhood since they do not have a deep bench with only one substitute. Both teams had trouble finding the basket with a lot of missed shots as they each scored 7 points in the second quarter making the score 13-12 at the half.
What happened in the third quarter came as quite a surprise to St James’ fans as the Lady Trojans went scoreless in the third quarter. However, the Holy Childhood Lady Apaches did not, scoring 10 points in the quarter and taking a commanding 23-12 lead after three quarters. The scoreless third quarter by the Lady Trojans was especially surprising when you consider not only the talent on the team but also the way the team hustles on offense and defense. St James Lady Trojans Coach Kevin Colbert said, “You don’t ever expect to go scoreless in a quarter. But Holy Childhood played very well. Theirs is the kind of defense that gives us problems. We didn’t shoot very well and we took bad shots.”
If the Lady Trojans were to have any chance of winning they had to do two things in the fourth quarter. Stop the Lady Apaches from scoring and find their own way to score. The Lady Trojans kept the Lady Apaches off the scoreboard for most of the fourth quarter but found scoring their own points a bit more difficult, but the Lady Trojans continued to chip away at Holy Childhood’s lead. Coach Colbert said, “Our kids started playing with more intensity in the fourth quarter and made a run. We have to play fast or we’re in trouble.” With 22.6 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and the Lady Trojans down 25-23 St James’ full court pressure was frustrating the Lady Apaches. Having difficulty inbounding the ball against the Lady Trojans, they tried to bounce it off of the Lady Trojan’s Mackenzie Weilbacher and missed. St James’ Carli Bowman got the ball and scored tying the game for the first time since the second quarter at 25-25. The Lady Apaches couldn’t counter and the game went into its first overtime.
The overtime was more like the beginning of the game with both teams energized and getting after it. After being fouled Mackenzie Weilbacher hit the front end of two free throws giving the Lady Trojans their first lead of the game 26-25 with 3:04 left in the overtime. Both teams exchanged the lead a few times but neither could get the edge, as the score remained tied 30-30 after the first overtime.
In the late stages of the game it seemed that St James forward Katie Nagel was just getting started. Nagel’s hustle and determination on offense and defense was instrumental for the Lady Trojans in the fourth quarter and the overtimes. Nagel scored the first points of the second overtime to give the Lady Trojans the lead 32-30 with 3:20 left in the second overtime. On their next possession Maddie Weilbacher scored to give the Lady Trojans a four-point lead 34-30. The Lady Trojans extended their lead to five points 36-31 as Katie Nagel cashed in on a fast break opportunity after Holy Childhood missed the back end of a one and one free throw opportunity. After the Lady Apaches scored on another free throw opportunity Katie Nagel again got free on the fast break to score making it 38-32 with 8 seconds left in the second overtime. The Lady Apaches scored once more to make it 38-34 but time ran out giving the Lady Trojans the victory.
The Lady Trojans were led by Katie Nagel, who scored 15 points and was 3 of 4 from the free throw line. Nagel scored 10 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter and two overtimes. Coach Colbert said, “Katie Nagel played an exceptional game for us tonight especially out front defensively. She had a tremendous game and got some big baskets for us toward the end of the game.” She was followed by Maddie Weilbacher, who scored 9 points for the Lady Trojans. Coach Colbert said, “Maddie gave us some good minutes, we just have to convince her to shoot a little more often.” The game was excellent preparation for the Lady Trojans who will be competing in the Althoff Feeder Tournament this weekend and are the #2 seed.
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