By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Defending state champion West Plains ran into a flaming-hot buzzsaw on Friday night.
The Lady Zizzers fell into a big deficit early and couldn’t catch up, losing 71-50 to Lutheran St. Charles in the Class 5 girls’ Show-Me Showdown semifinals at Hammons Student Center in Springfield.
Lutheran St. Charles sophomore Jordan Speiser dominated with a game-high 29 points plus nine rebounds. She shot 10-for-15 from the field overall, including 7-for-11 on 3s.
Speiser has received scholarship offers from over 10 Division I programs, including Iowa and Kansas.
“You can’t give her room. She’s really good. That’s why she’s being recruited as she is,” said West Plains coach Scott Womack.
Speiser, who might’ve reached 40 points if not for sitting out half of the third quarter in foul trouble, did most of her damage early. She scored 22 points in the first half, on 6-for-8 from 3, to give Lutheran St. Charles a 42-22 lead at halftime.
“First quarter wasn’t devastating, we maybe rushed a few shots, but the difference was the second quarter when we got outscored 24-10,” Womack said. “We were just down by too much.”
West Plains made it closer in the second half, but never got the deficit to single digits. The Lady Zizzers only generated three turnovers with their press defense.
Three other Lady Cougars scored in double figures.
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“West Plains, they didn’t just have to focus on me,” Speiser said. “My teammates, everyone, they’ve been stepping up all season. They had to stop every one of us. That helped out a lot.”
Whenever Lutheran St. Charles did miss, and it wasn’t often, there were few rebounds to be had.
The final box scored credited Lutheran St. Charles with a 33-8 advantage in the rebounding category. That helped negate West Plains’ efficient shooting night (22-for-42 overall).
“We just couldn’t find a body to block them out,” said West Plains junior forward Allyssa Joiner, who led the Lady Zizzers with 20 points.
Lutheran St. Charles shot 67% from the field in the first half and finished 25-for-44 (57%) overall.
“I thought our kids just came out with great energy,” said coach Erin Luttschwager. “We were really focused, especially on the defensive end. Our rebounding was tremendous, and that led to great shots on the offensive end.”
West Plains will take on Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau) at noon Saturday at Great Southern Bank Arena in the Class 5 3rd place game. The Lady Zizzers want to close out their third straight final four appearance with a win.
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“With this team, they never stop fighting,” Womack said. “No one wants to play in the 3rd place game. Everyone comes up here to win the whole thing. We have girls who aren’t happy, I’m sure Notre Dame has girls who aren’t happy. So who will be ready to come back in 12 hours and play with some fire? I like my girls and I think they will.”
Lutheran St. Charles 71, West Plains 50
West Plains 12 10 17 11 — 50
Lutheran St. Charles 18 24 10 19 — 71
Lutheran St. Charles (26-5 overall) – Jordan Speiser 29, Aly Auringer 12, Chloe Reed 12, Kyril Franklin 10, Kennedy Stowers 5, Chloe Reed 3
West Plains (23-8 overall) – Allyssa Joyner 20, Olivia Lawson 12, Kaylea Dixon 7, Hannah Judd 4, Drew Harris 4, Zoey Williams 3
