Lady Eagles Fall In Semifinals
The Sullivan Lady Eagles finished out a great basketball season on Thursday. Sullivan put up a strong battle against the Salem Lady Tigers, but fell short at the Class 4 District 3 tournament. The Lady Eagles sent the game into overtime, but were defeated by Salem, 52-46.
In the second quarter, Salem tied the game up at 10 to start. Abby Peterson broke that tie with a layup and Kylee McReynolds drained a short shot. Salem’s Ashton Bowers bridged the gap by two and Sullivan’s Head Coach Jordan Flora took a timeout. Peterson collapsed another layup and Sullivan held the lead, 16-12.
In the third quarter, the Lady Tigers came alive. When Sullivan scored a basket, Salem netted three in a row. The last Salem score was a three pointer and Salem’s Head Coach Cody Woody took a timeout. The Lady Tigers tied the game again with a three point basket and Salem’s Avery Erway netted a three point basket back to back to grab the lead. Peterson stole the lead back with a three point basket and scored again on a fast break to the hoop. Salem’s Emily Strange added two free throws and Sullivan took a timeout at 1:21. Salem grabbed the lead when Strange added two more free throws to end the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the game stayed back and forth. Delaney George sank a big three pointer for Sullivan to take the lead. Erway netted another free throw and Salem took a timeout with a little over five minutes left. Olivia Witt tied the game at 34 just for Dakayla McClain to break the tie with a layup. Coach Flora took a timeout with a little over two minutes left and Salem sailed in another three pointer to steal the lead. Coach Flora took another timeout, and Hayli Venable sank a three point basket to tie the game at 39. She took the lead from the free throw line and Salem’s Fayth Kaminski forced the game into overtime with her layup.
In overtime, Salem secured the win. Molly Lohden sank a three point basket to open the scoring. Kaminski tied the game and Bowers scored a layup and a free throw. Venable scored the last points for Sullivan with a layup and Bowers secured the win for Salem with seventeen seconds left. The Lady Tigers moved onto the next round with the final score, 52-46.
Peterson led the team in points with 18. Witt, Venable and McClain followed with six points each. McReynolds tallied four. George and Lohden finished with three points each.
Sullivan’s defense finished off strong and forced 14 turnovers. The Lady Eagles collected 15 steals and 29 rebounds. Peterson had the most rebounds with 12. McClain had seven and was followed by McReynolds with six. Venable got two. Lohden and Witt finished with one each.