If there is one attribute both of these teams share, that attribute would be resilience.
After falling down 32-15 at the half, Purdy roared back in the third quarter and actually regained the lead briefly. Purdy scored half of their total points in the third quarter alone, cutting the deficit to just three points heading into the final frame.
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“We talked about what we were doing wrong, and then we said, ‘okay enough of that,’” said Purdy head coach Eli Ernst. “Let’s talk about what we need to go do now. I’ve told them all week, don’t get too high, don’t get too low. Let’s make sure we maintain balance. And the score board is just evidence of the past, it’s not evidence of the future. So we just stuck to that philosophy that we’ve been talking all week and came out, and man, they played a whale of a third.”
Purdy exemplified their resilience to begin the second half. But Miller showed their mental toughness to close the game after taking Purdy’s best punches.
“Keep reinforcing that we’re going to be okay,” said Lady Cardinals coach Justin Gerald. “As long as we can keep our head and stay composed, we’re going to get through this. They’re making a run, and we talked about it at halftime, they’re an explosive basketball team and they’re a very good basketball team. They’re going to make a run at some point. They hadn’t done it in the first half, so coming out in the third, be ready. I don’t know if we were ready for that, but while it was going through we definitely kept our composure and fought through it and finished the rest of the basketball game.”
Led by 6’1” senior Jessica Estes, Miller kept Purdy at bay. The Lady Eagles came to within one point, 45-44, midway through the period, but were not able to regain the lead in the fourth quarter. Estes scored five of her game-high 18 points in the final frame. She could have had more, but she missed two big free throws with just 3.9 seconds on the clock with the score sitting at 49-46. Purdy had one last chance, but the final prayer was wide left.
“That’s what we’ve worked for this whole season,” said Estes. “Two things, conference and districts. We fell short on the conference, but you know what, we came in and got a district title.”
Estes, a College of the Ozarks commit, battled all game with the opponent that shared her No. 15 jersey number. Fellow senior Desirie Ennes contributed 11 points and was a big part of the Lady Eagle comeback effort. She’s the only senior on the Purdy roster, and Coach Ernst is sad to see his team leader play her final game for Purdy.
“You can’t speak enough to the heart of our girls,” he said. “Desi’s a one in a million. She’s a one in a million. She is our only senior and if I could find a way to get her to come back and play again I would. The heart that beats in her chest is her driving force and God guides her as she goes. I’m blessed that we’ve had her in our program and blessed to have been a part of her career.”
Miller will get a chance at Crane, the reigning three-time Class 2 state champions in the first round of the state tournament. The Lady Pirates beat Miller 81-39 in the first game of the season.
Coach Gerald will not shy away from the sectional round matchup against the state champs on Wednesday, May 2.
“We’re excited about the opportunity,” said Gerald. “To be the best you’re going to have to go play the best. At some point, you’re going to run into them. Run into them now, whenever. Let’s go play. That was our very first game of the year was Crane, at Crane. They opened a new gym, they had a lot of emotion going and they played very well. And they’re going to do the same thing in this game. It’s a big game. So my message to my girls is, let’s just go play. There’s no pressure on you to come out here and win this game. Let’s go have fun and enjoy this moment and do what we do well and see what happens. And that’s the message.”
Miller – 15 – 17 – 9 – 8 – 49
Purdy – 11 – 4 – 23 – 8 – 46
Miller – Jessica Estes 18, Lynna Hadlock 10, Abby Gann 8, Dalyn Hadlock 6, Shayne Mallory 5, Bethany Gulick 2
Purdy – Layne Skiles 12, Desirie Ennes 11, Sami House 10, Rion Boyd 7, Zoe Brown 6
