Only a few weeks removed from a dominating Willow Springs victory over the Lady Bobcats in the Thayer tournament, Thayer topped the Lady Bears in an SCA conference match-up, 49-45.
This contest had a different look and feel from the beginning. Thayer, who typically employs a match-up zone, shifted gears and slapped a man-to-man defense on Willow Springs. The Lady Bobcats forced 8 turnovers on the Lady Bears in the first quarter alone, scoring 11-8.
“I think we are playing a lot better now, and we are playing a different defense than we did before,” said Thayer head coach Kristi Chester.
Thayer’s narrow lead set the tone of the contest in which there were twelve lead changes in the second period alone. The Bears also struggled to make their shots fall. Thayer put up 9 points from behind the arc, while Willow Springs went zero for eight from downtown.
The teams were tied with five minutes to play, but the strong play of freshman Angela Sorrell, which included four free throws and a bucket, helped the Lady Bobcats to victory. Junior McKale Ary also added two clutch free throws to seal the four-point win.
“I was really proud of the girls,” said Coach Chester. “We changed some things up in practice, and they played really well tonight.”
Ashlyn Hufstedler led all scorers with 16 points, and Angela Sorrell had 15. Also scoring for the Lady Bobcats were Julie Stone, 8, Grayce Moore, 6, and McKale Ary, 4.
The Lady Bears had two 10-point scorers, Beth Sherbo and Shyanne Figley. Also scoring: Grace Bailey, 9, Devin Perkins, 6, Kayla Cox, 4, Liliya Dudko, 2, Kianna Rothermich, 2, and Sydney Miller, 2.
“I thought they played with more energy, played harder than we did – they outplayed us,” said Coach D.J. Gutscher. “They did a good job, and their coach had them prepared. Our kids know that we didn’t do what we needed to do, and we’re going to go to work tomorrow.”
The Lady Bears also celebrated senior night, honoring Beth Sherbo, who earned her 1,000th career point earlier in the season.
Thayer moves to 10-11 and Willow Springs to 13-9 on the season.
