Girls Basketball Falls 41-29 To Cuba In District Showdown

The Lady Eagles (5-17) lost 41-29 to a combative Cuba squad (18-6) on Wednesday, Feb. 14. This Class 4 District 3 clash was initially scheduled for Jan. 16 but was postponed a month later due to inclement weather.

The Lady Wildcats locked down the court until Sullivan played with the same aggression as them at the end of the game. Lady Eagles head coach Jordan Flora explained, “It’s just finally realizing we can play with them and compete; we got some of them in foul trouble. So when they had to go small, you know, it kind of helped us out as well.”

Cuba set the competitive tone by surging ahead to a 5-point lead at the start. Once Sullivan got possession, Flora shouted, “I want Cora,” and junior forward Cora Shetley answered with a layup.

Senior guards Delaney George and Hayli Venable capitalized on Cuba’s aggression by grabbing free throws. As Venable missed her second foul shot, junior guard Molly Lohden rebounded it and hit a jumper to give Sullivan a three-point deficit at the end of the first.

At the top of the second quarter, Union surged with eight unanswered points. It wasn’t until five minutes in the period that Shetley broke the drought with a free throw. Sullivan’s last score in the first half came when George sank a three.

Trailing 22-10 at halftime, after a “timid” performance by the Lady Eagles, Flora told his girls in the locker room that “if [you] want to stay in this game, you got to be the aggressive team.”

To start the third, Cuba ran up and down the court for another eight unanswered points until Lohden seized a free throw and layup.

Before the buzzer ended the quarter, freshman guard Karlee Head and junior forward Rayna Claus laid it into the basket to make it 32-17, with Sullivan trailing.

Senior guard Raegan Johnson kicked off a more competitive fourth quarter with a free throw.

Shetley would then fire on all cylinders in the final eight minutes. She hit two layups and a jumper and executed a free throw.

Avery Merkel picked up Sullivan’s final points on a fastbreak for 2, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Lady Wildcats.

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