by Tara Alumbaugh
Times’ sports
The Lady Cardinals played a game they are used to by now, the Elite 8, Saturday, March 8, hosting the Clopton Lady Hawks for the second year in-a-row, and once again defeating their opponents to earn their spot in the Class 2 Final Four.
Sectionals
The state tournament started with the Lady Cardinals playing the sectionals game at Harrisburg, taking the 58-25 win.
The game once against started slow in the first quarter, giving false hope to the Lady Bulldogs, but in Lady Cardinal fashion, they ran away with the score the final three quarters.
Stats
Clara Williams led Tipton with 20 points, followed by Ava Schlotzhauer who put up 18, and Charlee Bailey had 17. Anna Crane added 2, while Emma Bestgen had 1.
Shlotzhauer added another double-double to her records, pulling down 11 rebounds, followed closely by Williams with 10, Crane had 7, Larrah Petree, 4, and Bailey, Alice Bestgen and E. Bestgen, 1 each.
Williams had 6 assists for the game, followed by Crane with 3, Petree, had 2, and Schlotzhauer, 1.
Petree had 1 block against the Lady Bulldogs.
Quarterfinals
The quarterfinal game had the home crowd on their feet, cheering the Lady Cardinals to another trip to state.
“The fifth trip in six years to state is remarkable,” said Coach Jason Culpepper. “After the game, I told the girls to enjoy and cherish it because most people never get to a Final Four. At this point, it almost becomes part of the routine.”
The fight of the birds was kept tight in the first quarter, with a lead no bigger than 5 points for either team, but Tipton being out on top 13-8.
Tipton extended their lead at the end of the second quarter to 31-15 and never looked back, taking the win 65-43. Last year's win was 55-36.
Stats
Like all the Lady Cardinals, Ava Schlotzhauer was no exception, fighting hard at both ends of the court gaining bumps and bruises, putting up 21 points for the team, while Clara Williams followed closely with 19 and many steals. Anna Crane put up 10 points for the Lady Cardinals, followed by senior Charlee Bailey, who was guarded heavily by the Lady Hawks, with 9, all being behind the 3-point line, and Larrah Petree who fought under the basket to put up 6.
Culpepper noticed the Ladies starting to attack the rim in the second quarter, like they usually do.
“Clopton started to attempt a triangle defense on Clara and Charlee, which allowed Ava to hit a pair of threes and Anna to hit a three,” said Culpepper. “These shots and Bailey’s three at the end of the first quarter gave us some breathing room at the half. Honestly, any lead against Clopton is a good lead.”
No other stats were available at the time of print.
The Lady Cardinals celebrated the win with the traditional cutting of the net, where Bailey exited her final home game with a piece of Tipton going with her.
Coming up
Tipton will play in the Final Four at Mizzou Arena in Columbia Friday, March 14, at 10 a.m. with the either Neelyville or St. Vincent. Joining the Final Four teams will be Norwood and Skyline, both who are not new to this stage of the tournament.
The Lady Cardinals will face off against an excellent St. Vincent team, according to Culpepper. He says they have a couple girls who have signed at Division 2 schools with a lot of height.
“When you get to this point in the season, there usually is not a bad team,” said Culpepper. “But in Class 2, we have three outstanding teams left. I anticipate a rematch with Skyline for a state title if we win on Friday.”
The Class 2 third place game will be played Saturday, March 15 at 10 a.m., with the championship game at 4 p.m.
Tickets for the game must be purchased at MSHSAA.org with the digital ticket on your phone or printed to gain access into Mizzou Arena.
