Sports
Stapleton Too Much For Alexander
< < Back toTurnovers, poor shooting, and the lack of an inside game plagued the Alexander Lady Spartans all game as they fell to the Lady Dragons of Fairland in the district championship game Saturday in Waverly.
The Lady Spartans got the first basket of the game on a drive and pull up jumper from Leah Richardson, but would not lead again for the rest of the game.Six-foot-four-inch Michigan committee Terra Stapleton went on a six-point run of her own, which sparked fellow senior Chandler Fulks to knock down two straight from down town.
Alexander committed eight of their 30 turnovers in the first quarter, causing them to fall behind 18-9 after a quarter of play.The second quarter went a little bit smoother for the Lady Spartans, as they only committed six turnovers, but still couldn’t stop Stapleton in the middle. Stapleton finished with 31 points and nine rebounds, all while only missing two of her 15 field goal attempts.She was a beast in the paint and Alexander just didn’t have an answer.
Leah Richardson’s 13 points and five assists helped keep the Lady Spartans in the game early, but she had a tough time hanging onto the ball, committing 10 turnovers in the game.
“We talked at halftime and that is exactly where we wanted to be,” said Alexander coach Scott Hinton. “We wanted to give ourselves a fighting chance.”
Alexander came out on the locker room for the second half flat, getting outscored 22-10 in the third quarter and committing 11 turnovers. It was a tough quarter that ultimately ended up being their downfall.
Heading into the fourth quarter trailing by 20, it would have taken a small miracle for the Lady Spartans to come back and get the win. This miracle wouldn’t come in full, but the ladies showed signs of life late, moving the ball and finally knocking down some shots.
Alexander’s swarming defense started to look like the defense they’ve been all year, forcing turnovers and creating havoc for the offense. This life on the defensive end led to easier shots on the offensive end.Despite their effort, the Lady Spartans weren’t able to make the comeback and ended up falling under the fire of the Lady Dragons.
“All fifteen of them run off the floor,” pointed out Hinton. “That shows character, that shows dedication to the program, that shows pride in the program. And that’s something I’m very happy about.”
Alexander will lose four seniors heading into next year: Carrie Nostrant, Chandra Wilson, Marilyn Rankin, and Kat Weaver. They will be returning key players in Richardson, Allyson Malone, Ally McClain, Kendall Meeks, Makina Milum, and Alexis Mohler next year as they look to make an even deeper post-season run.
“We want to make sure we’re not happy with where we are. We got to make sure we press to get to the next step,” said Coach Hinton when looking ahead to next season.
Fairland will play McClain on Wednesday at 8:00 pm at Logan High School.