Slater basketball: 29th Wildcat Classic: Purple ends Sacred Heart reign

The Slater girls celebrated their first Wildcat Classic title in 11 years after knocking off three-time defending champion Sacred Heart, 57-52.
(Chris Allen/Democrat-News)

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The veteran Slater coach hadn't seen his girls lift the championship trophy of the Wildcat Classic since 1999, but that drought ended Saturday with a 57-52 victory over Sacred Heart -- which lost its three-year grip on the title.

"It means a lot," said guard Niki Kruger, the lone Slater senior whose 25 points and exquisite clutch performance carried the day. "We've worked hard on our team."

It's starting to pay off for the Lady 'Cats, who had not played in a championship game anywhere in five years nor won one since defeating Fayette 11 years ago to the day. Since then, the Jessra Johnson-led Lady Falcons beat Slater in the 2004 and '05 Classic finals.

"It's been a long dry spell," Gonzalez admitted. "I showed them the program and said, 'Here's what we have in front of us.'"

It didn't appear that daunting a task by halftime, the Lady 'Cats building on a 14-12 lead early in the second quarter with a 17-5 run the rest of the period. During that seven-minute spell, the Lady Gremlins turned the ball over seven times -- although only one led to a transition bucket, by Kruger with 46 seconds left in the half.

"That's what we wanted to do," Gonzalez said. Not getting many front-court steals, "we just settled into our half-court defense, and that's a key for us."

However, despite a 31-17 lead at the break, all was not well for the Purple. Saddled with foul trouble, with Kruger and junior Ana Jackson picking up their fourth personals midway through the third quarter, Slater needed its bench.

Sacred Heart pressed, and produced four takeaways in five Wildcat possessions. Senior Rachel Fischer scored twice inside and sophomores Erica Stone and Claire Fischer made lay-ups to whittle the margin to four points by the end of the frame.

"They exposed us a little bit there," Gonzalez said. "When we got people in the right position, we were able to handle it."

Before that happened, the Lady Gremlins got two buckets to tie the score with 6:48 remaining in the game. The deadlock lasted all of six seconds, Jackson taking it the length of the court for a deuce before fouling out moments later.

That's when Kruger took over. She followed two free throws with a mid-range jumper. Junior Saria Leimkuehler hit two from the charity stripe and a Kruger stick-back made it 48-41 with 4:31 to go.

Rachel Fischer made one of two free throws, grabbing the rebound on the missed second shot and putting it in. After a Kruger freebie, Sacred Heart had three cracks at the rim -- but couldn't get a shot to drop.

Sophomore Brooke Clemons finally corralled the ball, her outlet pass starting a fast break finished by sophomore Betty Goodman. Kruger's floater in the paint pushed the Slater lead to nine points with 3:05 remaining.

"In your mind, you have to slow down," Kruger explained the mental challenge posed by the frenetic tempo down the stretch. "You have to keep the game at your pace. You don't let up."

Although Fischer scored once and senior Justine Dover twice during the final two minutes, four straight Kruger free throws kept the Lady 'Cats at least three possessions ahead until the final second.

"The biggest thing she did was knock down those free throws," Gonzalez said. "She played like a senior veteran point guard."

Stone tallied 16 points and Fischer had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Gremlins (11-5), who had only two of their 27 turnovers during the 17-7 third-period comeback -- but didn't help themselves by shooting 14 of 33 from the free-throw line during the game.

Besides her scoring, Kruger contributed eight rebounds, five assists and five steals for the Lady 'Cats (12-5). Clemons collected 17 of the team's 52 boards, 26 offensive, a 46-27 dominance other than the tough third period.

After losing a third-place game at Glasgow and winning one at New Franklin, what Gonzalez described as "a turning point," Slater's next tourney is the Class 2, District 13 showdown at Moberly.

"We just have to keep improving and making shots," Gonzalez said. "With a little luck, anything can happen."

Santa Fe 51, Carrollton 43

Santa Fe ended its nine-game losing streak Friday against the last team it had beaten, defeating Carrollton, 51-43, for seventh place.

Junior Molly Sander and freshman Brandy Beasley each hit three shots during the first quarter as the Lady Chiefs pulled out to a 14-6 lead, which they would stretch to 24-12 by halftime.

Although the Lady Trojans (0-9) closed the gap during the second half, when sophomore Hannah Davis scored nine of her team-high 15 points, Santa Fe was able to hold them off by making 12 of 19 free throws.

Sander racked up 19 points and senior Lauren Aversman added 16 for the Lady Chiefs (3-14).

Boys

Pilot Grove 65, Santa Fe 62

Junior Jacob Schuster dropped five bombs on the Santa Fe boys Friday to lead the Pilot Grove boys to a 65-62 win for the consolation trophy.

Schuster hit two during the first period to stake the Tigers to a 15-10 lead, but sophomore Jeff Kuntz came off the bench to hit five second-quarter shots and senior Matt Lovercamp connected twice from outside to put the Chiefs in front by five points at the break.

However, Santa Fe was unable to keep up with the sustained assault by Schuster and junior Colby Kraus, who tallied 11 second-half points.

Schuster finished with 21 points and senior Zach Glenn had 20 for Pilot Grove (16-2), ranked sixth in last week's Class 1 poll.

Kuntz led the Chiefs with 16 points while Lovercamp and senior Noah Stoll combined for 24 points for the Chiefs (10-6).