Reserve strength
When a team’s top three scorers are held to less than their season averages, winning isn’t the likely outcome.
Evergreen Lutheran of Des Moines apparently didn’t get the memo.
The Eagles (24-2) used double-digit scoring from a couple of unlikely sources and 29 points off the bench to erase a five-point halftime deficit and defeat Reardan 63-43 in Thursday’s girls State 2B basketball tournament quarterfinal action at the Arena.
“I’ve been blessed with some incredible athletes,” said Evergreen Lutheran head coach Jeffrey Kurbis. “We had a girl who came off the bench today and just lit it up, and that’s been the story for us all year long – where somebody new comes along and just does an unbelievable job.”
The girl in question, junior Ashley Daniels, shot 5 of 6 from the field on her way to 13 points, including eight in the decisive fourth quarter that saw the Eagles outscore the Indians 22-5.
“We’ve definitely had other games where we’ve been down at the half,” said the 5-foot-11 center. “We knew that if we played our game, by working as a team, we would get back in the second half.”
A smaller, quicker Reardan team opened the contest with a 10-3 lead, with eight points coming in transition after steals. Three of the first-quarter steals came from Jen Christerson, who finished with a game-high six and a team-high 14 points, despite shooting 7 of 20 from the floor, including 0 of 8 on 3-pointers.
Both teams dealt with shooting and ball-control woes in the second quarter, but the Indians (19-10) stretched their lead to eight on a Mandy Peone layup with 3:45 left in the half. The Eagles chipped away during a 3-minute Reardan-scoring drought, and the Indians went into the half with a 22-17 lead.
“We watched them (Evergreen Lutheran) play the other night and I thought they had us on the size, but I thought we had the advantage with our guards,” said Reardan head coach Tiger Peone, who guided the Indians to an opening-round 20-point win over North Beach Wednesday. “In the beginning we were able to put pressure on them frontcourt, backcourt. One of our main objectives was to keep them off the glass, and that’s what went south for us.”
The Indians regained some of their scoring touch in the opening moments of the second half, but the Eagles found their stroke, pulling to within 38-37 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Cory Warner. The Eagles took their first lead since the opening possession on a Daniels jumper with 45 seconds left in the quarter.
“We have so many talented ladies on the team that no matter the night, somebody’s going to come out and score big,” said Warner, who netted a game-high 15 points despite coming in averaging 7.4 per contest. “Last night was a very bad game for me, so I was kind of hoping it would be better today.”
Evergreen Lutheran opened the final quarter with an 11-0 run that was snapped when Christerson hit a layin with 3:38 left. Reardan had a 5 minute-plus scoring drought, and the Eagles used their bench, which ended with a 29-4 margin, to take the commanding lead.
The Eagles take on La Salle at 6 today in the evening’s first semifinal.
Ashtin Jeney chipped in with 12 points for the Indians, and Jessica Ide contributed 11 and seven rebounds for the Eagles, who take on LaSalle tonight in a 6 p.m. semifinal contest.
“We talked about protecting the ball and keeping them off the glass in the second half and they went after us,” said Coach Peone. “They wanted it a little bit more than we did. A couple girls stepped up for them tonight and when a team turns into a perimeter team, it’s hard to get the ‘W.’”