By WADE LINVILLE
Sports editor, The News Democrat

Victory, pride and determination are three words that could describe the Georgetown Lady G-Men’s outstanding 2007-2008 season on the hardwood. Making a lengthy run in the post-season tournament is what every high school basketball team hopes for, but only four teams in all of Ohio will be able to say they won their last bout of the season. The Lady G-Men took the court Feb. 23 at Vandalia-Butler High School to take on the Badin Rams with the goal of claiming a 2008 Southwest District Division III Title. The Lady G-Men fell just shy of their goal, suffering a 50-39 loss to mark an end to a fabulous season.

Finishing as Southwest District Division III runner-up and this year’s Division III Sectional Champions of Western Brown High School, the Lady G-Men truly put together a season to be proud of.
The Lady G-Men finished a remarkable season on the hardwood with only three losses, capturing their eighth consecutive Southern Buckeye Athletic/Academic Conference National Division Title and bringing home another Division III Sectional Championship Trophy.
Although the Lady G-Men fought to hold back their tears after falling to the Rams in Saturday’s District Championship bout, their effort didn’t go unrecognized.
The Lady G-Men gave the Rams, seeded No. 1 in the Wilmington Sectional, the best game the skilled squad from Badin has seen thus far in the post season tournament run.
The Rams defeated North College Hill 71-23 in the second round of the Wilmington Sectional and claimed the Wilmington Division III Sectional Title with a 66-36 victory over No. 4 seed Waynesville.
The Lady G-Men squeaked by Madeira 32-31 to finish as the sectional champions at Western Brown High School.
No team had come within 25 points of the Rams in post-season play until they faced the Lady G-Men in the Southwest District Division III Finals at Vandalia on Saturday.
For the Lady Rams, Saturday marked their ninth district championship win in 13 years.
For the Lady G-Men, Saturday was the last shot seniors Chelsea Drake, Aimee Adkins and Courtney Mason will have at a district title.
The Lady Rams jumped to an early lead, outscoring the Lady G-Men 13-5 in the first quarter.
With Paige Gast, Amanda Jelley, Adkins and Drake contributing scores in the second quarter, the Lady G-Men rallied to outscore the Rams 11-9 in the second frame, but the Rams still held a 22-16 lead at halftime.
The Lady G-Men struggled to execute offensively early in the second half, falling behind 36-23 to end the third quarter.
With a fine fourth-quarter performance by Georgetown freshman forward Kirsten Grant, the Lady G-Men outscored the Rams 16-14, but the damage by the Rams had already been done.
Grant led the way in scoring for the Lady G-Men, muscling in the paint for four field goals and sinking three of eight attempts from the charity stripe to finish with 11 points. Paige Gast was next in line for the Lady G-Men with nine points.
Six-foot senior Elizabeth Sunderhaus led the way for the Rams with 11 points, and six-foot senior forward Tricia McCutchan finished with 10 points.
Scoring came rather slow on both ends of the court in Saturday’s district finale, but both teams came out strong on defense.
“Badin did a good job defensively,” Georgetown coach Bernie Cropper told reporters after Saturday’s loss. “We’ve been relying on our defense all year really. We haven’t been a great offensive machine, but it was a great run for us and I’m proud of the kids.”
Cropper credited his players, especially his trio of skilled seniors, for an outstanding season.
Finishing the year with an overall record of 19-3 is nothing to be ashamed of.
Not only did the Lady G-Men repeat as SBAAC National Division Champs with only two league losses in the regular season, but they also took first place at the 2007 Brown County Holiday Tournament.
The Lady G-Men will miss their three skilled seniors next season, but Cropper will have a talented group to work with next season in their quest for another SBAAC National Division Title and dazzling post-season tournament run.

Georgetown 5 11 7 16 - 39
Badin         13 9 14 14 - 50

Georgetown (39): Grant 4-3-11, Gast 4-1-9, Jelley 1-0-2, Adkins 1-3-5, Mason 1-3-5, Drake 2-3-7.

Badin (50): Sunderhaus 4-3-11, McCuthchan 4-2-10, Meyer 0-4-4, Gabbord 3-2-8, Spradling 2-1-5, Matthews 1-4-6, Hubbard 1-0-2, Dudley 0-2-2, Andres 0-2-2.

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