TABOR: Lady 'Jays avenge earlier loss to Spires
Tabor women win fourth straight, routing St. Mary 85-41
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
How?
Considering some of the puzzling events the Lady Bluejays have encountered this season, coach Rusty Allen might want to think about buying some time on Wednesday night's Ripley's Believe It, or Not.
For the second time this year, Allen again found himself thinking Saturday night's opponent was the same St. Mary Spire team that hit his team with a hard 58-53 shot in the arm Jan. 16 in Leavenworth.
Allen's first explanation came Jan. 30 after the Bluejays destroyed a McPherson Bulldog team that pulled off arguably the biggest upset of the year, shocking then second-ranked Sterling.
In the rematch at Hillsboro, St. Mary hardly looked capable of beating a good high school team, much less the red-hot Bluejays.
Tabor used its season-high 61 percent shooting from downtown and both a season- and game-best 19 points from Rachelle Wertenberger to blast the Spires 85-41.
The win marks the Bluejays fourth straight, boosting their record to 15-11 on the year and putting them in a tie for third place in the KCAC with Southwestern at 10-6.
The good news for Tabor is that it holds a one-point edge over the Lady Moundbuilders in a tie-breaker.
No doubt about it, the Bluejays are playing better basketball now than they were in the first meeting.
"We're a lot different team than we that night right now," Allen said. "That's pretty obvious. We're playing with more determination and we're playing with a lot more confidence.
"A lot of things come together when you are determined and confident. We definitely got in a zone tonight, our concentration was really good. It was a good win for us."
Not to mention Tabor still relying more heavily on its frontcourt for offense, playing defense both on and off the ball, and rebounding much harder.
The frontcourt did do its fair share of damage with Casey Stucky finishing with 13 points to go along with her game-high seven rebounds.
Ever since the Jan. 18 win at Friends, the Bluejays have looked to get more players involved in their offensive flow.
That method is still working as 11 of the 13 Bluejays made it into the scoring column to highlight shooting 48 percent from the floor.
After four lead changes through the game's first 7:34, Stucky pushed the Bluejays over the hill for good at the 12:26 mark, 10-9.
Wertenberger got hot early from behind the arc, eventually finishing with nine points from downtown off three of four.
One of her threes was part of a 9-0 run that Tabor used to push its lead to 24-11, just under 7:00 left in the first half.
Shooting a abysmal 20 percent from the floor the first half and 29 percent for the game, the Spires' 83 percent at the foul line was the brightest light they'd see.
Little went right for St. Mary.
The Spires spotted Tabor with 20 points off 21 turnovers while getting hammered on the glass 43-30. The starry 83 percent from the line the first half faded to 40 the second half and 56 on the night.
Freshmen Shannon Kroeker and Jill Hein have come on strong as of late.
The two added nine and eight points, combining for five of Tabor's 11 threes.
A triple by Shannon Kroeker with :19 to go left St. Mary doubled up at halftime, 34-17.
If there was anything to sour the Bluejays' sweet victory, it possibly came in the opening minutes of the second half.
Inflating the lead the to a commanding 40-17 after a 6-0 run, Tabor's defensive effort made Allen cranky.
"It was a great start offensively," he said, "but what I noticed is we were going down on the defense and acting like the game was over.
"I decided that wasn't going to continue because we just went down on the defensive end and played lackadaisical. They didn't score in that time frame, but I could see it in their face."
An Allen time-out got the Bluejays refocused, holding St. Mary to merely a trio of field goals in the first 7:30 of the second half.
By that time, Allen had pulled all but Carmen Hein from the starting line-up, much of that due to senior night.
Carmen finished with five points and a game-high quartet of assists.
Shannon Kroeker's second of three treys gave Tabor its largest lead of the game, 80-31, with just over 4:00 left.
The Bluejays wrap up the home portion of their schedule tonight at 6 p.m. against the struggling Friends Falcons.
Tabor ends the regular season Saturday night in Salina against the winless Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes in a 5.m. start.
Tabor 85, Saint Mary 41
Total points: A. Kroeker 6, Rodrigues 2, C. Hein 5, Wertenberger 19, S. Kroeker 9, Hemmert 8, J. Hein 8, McKillip 8, Stucky 13, Townsend 6, Soft 1.
Rebounds: A. Kroeker 1, Rodrigues 2, C. Hein 1, Wertenberger 3, S. Kroeker 4, Hemmert 3, J. Hein 5, McKillip 5, Stucky 7, Townsend 4, Soft 1.
Assists: C. Hein 4, Wertenberger 3, S. Kroeker 1, Hemmert 1, Stuber 3, J. Hein 3, McKillip 1, Stucky 2, Townsend 1.
Steals: Wertenberger 2, S. Kroeker 1, Hemmert 4, J. Hein 2, McKillip 1, Stucky 4.
