A three-peat was not to be had.
For the first time since 2007, the Lady Eagles will sit out the state playoffs after losing to St. Clair, 48-34, in the Class 4 District 4 tournament semifinals on Wednesday night.
The Lady Eagles had won three district championships in the past four seasons. They finished the season with a 12-14 record.
Despite getting ahead of the top-seeded Lady Bulldogs early and trailing by three at the half, Sullivan was never able to break St. Clair’s defense. St. Clair smothered Carissa Richardson the entire game, and their perimeter defenders kept the Lady Eagles from getting wide-open shots. The Lady Bulldogs also disrupted Sullivan’s offense by intercepting the passing lanes and creating turnovers.
Sullivan jumped out to a 7-4 lead that was erased by Bry Pierce and Courtney Pursley, St. Clair’s two leading scorers. St. Clair led 12-10 after one quarter.
Sullivan turned the ball over on three of their first six possessions in the second quarter as St. Clair built up an 18-10 lead. After going scoreless for almost four minutes, Chelsea Strauser scored five points in 30 seconds to cut Sullivan’s deficit to three. Sullivan trailed 22-19 at the half.
St. Clair broke away in the third quarter in spite of turning the ball over six times. Sullivan did not hit a basket in the quarter and they scored just one point. They trailed 30-20 after three quarters and were down by 15 midway through the fourth quarter.
Richardson finally started getting touches in the fourth quarter and she scored 12 of the team’s 14 points.
She finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Jessica Heinle scored five points with four offensive rebounds and three steals.
Strauser had five points with two assists and one steal.
Jett Bouckaert scored four points with one rebound, one steal and one assist.
Hallie Davis finished with four points and one steal.
Pierce led the Lady Bulldogs with 17 points, while Pursley scored 15.
Kelsey Anderson and Katie Schmidt each scored seven points.
Brittany Sellers added two points.