Lady Bluejays survive road scare at Bethel
No. 10 Tabor fends off Lady Threshers, 56-51
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
If Lady Bluejay coach Rusty Allen doesn't know how the Sterling Warriors felt for so many years, he probably has a pretty good idea by now.
For years, the Bluejays were one of the nine hunters looking to knock the Warriors off the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Association pedestal.
Currently sitting on top of the league's ladder at 13-1 and 20-4 overall, the Bluejays have gone from being a hunter to the hunted.
Few teams would love it more ambushing the Bluejays quite like the Bethel Lady Threshers.
With the bull's eye marked square on its back, Tabor dodged a bullet Saturday night in North Newton, holding off the Threshers, 56-51.
"Bethel looked at the game with a little more desperation than we did because of where they're at," Allen said. "That causes these types of games to happen sometimes, the rivalry is for real."
The Threshers might have gotten the job done had they been able to muster some points in crunch time, or figure out how to slow down Donya Anderson.
Bethel had no such luck there either.
Anderson was a fly in the Thresher ointment as she dumped in a game-high 16 points going 5-of-7 from the floor and 6-of-8 at the line, and hauling in nine rebounds.
"Donya had a big game and an especially big first half," said Allen. "We told her before the game we thought she could outrun her opponent and there was a stretch where she just outran them down the floor. That was huge for us."
The Bluejays would pull in front by a basket or two only to have the Threshers still hot on their heels due in part to chilly Tabor shooting and big Bethel rebounds.
Tabor was ice-cold from the perimeter, hitting 1-of-6 and just 10-of-26 the first half to help lead to seven ties.
Anderson scored 11 consecutive points to put Tabor on top 27-24 at the break.
The Threshers overtook the lead briefly the second half, 31-29, before Nicole Ellis sparked an 8-0 run for the Bluejays.
Erica Hemmert picked up one of her team-high three steals and scored on a fast-break to give the Bluejays their largest lead of the game, 37-31, five minutes into the game.
Hemmert was the only other Bluejay to score double figures with 10 points.
Bethel refused to stay down, scoring seven unanswered points to regain the lead, 43-42, with less than 12 minutes to play.
Tabor didn't stay down either, regaining the lead, 50-45 with just under 6:30 left.
After that, it was a matter of who wanted it more.
Marion's Brandi Peterie-Shipman gave the Threshers their final lead of the game, 51-50.
Her basket with 2:48 left was the final shot Bethel could get to fall.
That gave Tabor plenty of time for some more highlights, such as Jill Hein diving and knocking away a Thresher entry pass to the Bluejay end of the court.
Stacie Herman then dove for the ball and got it to Shannon Kroeker, who took it up for a 54-51 lead with under two minutes left.
"That was an unbelievable play," Allen said of Hein and Herman. "First, Jill gave everything she had just to get that started and Stacie showed unbelievable heart on the play."
The Bluejays weren't out of the woods yet, though, with Bethel getting a pair of chances at the line that could have swung the momentum back in its favor.
Instead, the front ends of both one-and-ones drew iron.
Hemmert finally slammed the door on the Threshers with :25 left, making it a two-possession game with a pair of free throws.
The Bluejays could have sealed the victory earlier had they been able to cash in on numerous Thresher blunders the second half.
"We tried to create turnovers and we did that, we just couldn't capitalize on them and extend our lead," Allen said.
Bethel was 40 percent for the game, making 46 the second half.
The Bluejays travel to Salina tonight to face the struggling Kansas Wesleyan Lady Coyotes at 6 p.m. before paying the Bethany Lady Swedes a visit Saturday in Lindsborg.
Saturday's tip off time is scheduled for 5 p.m.
