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Lady Rockets finish runner-up in District Tourney

Monday, 03 March 2008

By WADE LINVILLE
Sports editor, The News Democrat

On one end of the crowded gymnasium there was a team dressed in blue and yellow that chanted cheers of victory while its fans rejoiced another win. On the other end of the gymnasium there was a team dressed in green and white that shared in tears of sorrow, with hard-working athletes embracing each other one last time as teammates during the 2007-2008 basketball season. A dazzling post-season tournament run had reached the end for the Fayetteville Lady Rockets, but the Lehman Catholic Lady Cavaliers survived for at least one more round, advancing to the Regional Tournament.
The Cavaliers defeated the Lady Rockets 65-48 while playing for the Southwest District Division IV Title at Vandalia-Butler High School Feb. 23.

Although the Lady Rockets fell short of a district title Saturday afternoon, Fayetteville coach Toby Sheets was proud of his team’s effort.
“I couldn’t be prouder of these kids,” said Toby Sheets. “We’ve had a great season and that’s what I told the kids in the locker-room (after the game). They’ve never refused to accept a challenge.
“They always come in self-motivated. They’re work ethic was great. They’ve been a pleasure to coach.”
According to Toby Sheets, this year’s tournament run was just a glimpse of what’s to come over the next few years for the Lady Rockets. The Lady Rockets lose four seniors after this season, but only two of which were regular starters.
“I think we’re just now getting started,” Toby Sheets said following Saturday’s loss. “We have a real solid junior high program. Our J.V. (junior varsity) team finished up with only four losses at 15-4.”
Emotions were running high as Fayetteville fans made the long drive to watch their favorite high school girls basketball squad play for a district crown a week after claiming their first sectional title since 1997. Despite Saturday’s loss in the district finale, the large Fayetteville crowd left the gymnasium proud of their team.
In the early stages of Saturday’s game it looked as if fans would witness another post-season “barn burner,” but the Cavaliers were quick to pull away in the second half to capture a big win.
Backed by a solid team performance, the Lady Rockets managed to knot the game at 22 by halftime. Fayetteville freshman Shelby Sheets was hot from the field in the first half, burying three field goals and connecting on two of two attempts from the charity stripe for eight points.
Fayetteville’s six-foot junior center Miranda Vearil came through with two big baskets in the first half, while teammates Erica Iles, Shelby Brown, Courtney Adams and Liz Terrell also contributed scores in the first 16 minutes of play.
The determined Fayetteville squad knew they had to put a stop to stop Cavaliers 5’10” senior guard Jessica Slagle and 5’10” senior forward Sarah Freytag if they wanted to bring home a district title over the weekend, and the Lady Rockets’ zone defense that brought them much success throughout the season was effective against Slagle in the first half.
“They’re two real fine players and they can get to the free throw line,” Toby Sheets said of Slagle and Sarah Freytag.
Slagle managed to score only five points in the first half, sinking four of five attempts from the foul line and draining just one field goal. However, senior forward Sarah Freytag was there to pick up the slack, battling in the paint for 10 first-half points. Lehman sophomore guard Brooke Vanover rifled in two shots from beyond the arc in the first half, as the two teams struggled to take control of the scoreboard.
The two teams played a bit of “cat and mouse” late in the second quarter, with the Lady Rockets giving chase as the cat. Down 22-16 with under two minutes to go in the second, the Lady Rockets went on a 6-0 run to tie the game before the start of the second half.
With 1:36 to go in the second quarter, Iles journeyed to the charity stripe to bury both shots, cutting the Cavalier lead to four points.
After holding the Cavaliers scoreless in the next trip down the court, the Lady Rockets got a score off transition from Shelby Sheets to slice the Cavalier lead to two points.
Vearil took the last score of the first half, tying the game at 22 with 50 seconds on the clock.
The Cavaliers took the first score of the second half and never looked back. Slagle was fouled on a shot during the Cavaliers’ first drive of the third quarter and sank both foul shots to give her team a two-point lead with 7:50 left on the clock.
With 6:07 to go in the third quarter, Brown found herself at the charity stripe to shoot two. Brown buried one free throw to make it 24-23, Cavaliers.
Under 30 seconds later, Lehman senior guard Brooke Mason rifled in a three-pointer to up the Cavalier lead to four points.
A score by Tussey sliced the Cavalier lead to just two points with the clock closing in on the midway point in the third quarter, but a set of hit free throws by Slagle restored a four-point Cavalier lead nearly halfway through the third quarter.
Slagle then grabbed a steal from Shelby Sheets, which led to a hit free throw by Sarah Freytag to up the Cavalier lead to five points.
An aggressive full-court trap defense utilized by the Cavaliers led to a Lady Rocket turnover late in the third quarter, and Slagle found herself at the charity stripe once again after being fouled on a shot. Slagle buried both free throw attempts to make it 32-25, Cavaliers.
With 3:42 to go in the third quarter, Slagle snatched another steal and looked down the court to Sarah Freytag for a quick score, upping the Cavalier lead to nine.
The 10-3 run by the Cavaliers to start the third quarter was just the beginning of the Lady Rockets’ struggles in the third quarter, as the Cavaliers went on to outscore Fayetteville 25-11 in the frame to take a comfortable 47-33 lead with only eight minutes left to play. Shelby Sheets connected on two field goals in the third quarter to lead the way for the Lady Rockets.
Of 17 attempts from the foul line in the third quarter, the Cavaliers buried all but two.
The Lady Rockets journeyed to the charity stripe to attempt only three foul shots in the third quarter and connected on one. Hit free throws played a huge role in the Cavaliers’ win on Saturday.
The Cavaliers connected on shots from the foul line while the Lady Rockets sank eight of 13 attempts.
Down by 14 with eight minutes to play, the Lady Rockets refused to give up. Tussey battled in the paint to knock down three field goals in the fourth quarter. Shelby Sheets buried one field goal in the fourth and hit two of four attempts from the charity stripe. But the third-quarter hole the Rockets dug themselves into was just too deep to scale with only one quarter left to play.
The Cavaliers outscored the Rockets 18-15 in the final eight minutes to claim a 17-point victory. Of the Cavaliers’ 18 points in the final frame, 10 came from the foul line. Slagle buried three field goals in the fourth and nailed three of four attempts from the foul line to lead the frame for the Cavaliers. Slagle hit only four field goals in the entire game, but sank 13 of 15 attempts from the foul line to take the game high with 21 points.
Sarah Freytag came through with six field goals and hit eight of 14 attempts from the foul line to finish with 20 points.
Vanover finished the game with 15 points by rifling in two three-pointers, hitting a shot from inside the arc and connecting on seven of nine attempts from the foul line.
Leading the way for the Lady Rockets was Shelby Sheets, who scored consistently in Saturday’s match-up. Shelby Sheets shot for four points in each quarter to finish with 16 points. Tussey also reached double figures in scoring, nailing five field goals to finish with 10 points.
The Lady Rockets were 18-5 coming into Saturday’s Southwest District Division IV Tournament and the Cavaliers held a record of 19-3.
Although the Lady Rockets ran out of fuel before capturing a district title, they certainly have a number of things to be proud of when reflecting back on the 2007-2008 season. For the first time since 1997 the Lady Rockets defeated the Eastern Lady Warriors, a powerhouse in the Southern Hills League that has dominated the “big school” division of the league for years.
The Lady Rockets pulled through the regular season to finish with a 10-3 league record, sharing the SHL Division II crown with the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats.
As mentioned previously, the Lady Rockets staked claim to their first Southwest District Division IV Sectional Title in over a decade and finished as the Southwest District Division IV Runner-Up at Vandalia.
For seniors - Tussey, Courtney Adams, Bailey Hill and Ashley Brinson - Saturday marked the end of an exciting high school basketball career. But the four hard working seniors can keep their chins up, knowing that they represented their school well in carrying on the Rockets’ pride.

Fayetteville 10 12 11 15 - 48
Lehman Catholic 12 10 25 18 - 65

Fayetteville (48): Sheets 6-4-16, Tussey 5-0-10, Adams 2-1-5, Terrell 3-0-6, Iles 0-2-2, Vearil 3-0-6, Brown 1-1-3.

Lehman Catholic (65): Slagle 4-13-21, S. Freytag 6-8-20, Vanover 3-7-15, Thobe 0-1-1, Mason 2-0-6, C. Freytag 0-2-2. Three-pointers (4): Vanover 2, Mason 2.