Lions give it their all at State

Second-ranked Pocahontas Area hit four three-pointers during a two and one-half minute span in the fourth quarter and rallied to beat number 13 Clear Lake, 63-59, Class 3A quarterfinal round at the Girls State Basketball Tournament in Des Moines Tuesday, March 3.

“They left it all out on the floor and that’s all I’ve asked the girls to do all year,” said Lions Coach Bart Smith.  “When they do that they can leave the floor, the game, and their high school careers with pride and with no regrets.  They should be very proud of how they represented themselves, the team, our school and community.”

The lead in the contest went back-and-forth numerous times, with Clear Lake holding a 20-16 lead at the end of the first quarter despite six turnovers.  Pocahontas hit a three-pointer on their final possession, one of three in the period, and held a 33-32 edge at the half.

The Lions continued to play solid defense in the third quarter and held the Indians to just four points.  However, the Lions scored just seven points in eight-minutes, ending the third quarter ahead 39-37.  

Midway through the fourth quarter the Lions held their biggest lead, 52-44, when Sidney Borrill scored, was fouled and sunk her free throw.

With clutch play from sophomores Faith Meyer and Elle Ruffridge the Indians made a late run.  Meyer led all scorers with 22 points and knocked down five of seven three-point attempts. Ruffridge was held below her state-leading 27-point scoring average, but came through when her team needed her and wound up with 21 points.

  Consecutive three-pointers by Meyer and Ruffridge drew the Indians to 52-50, and they trailed just 54-53 after Ruffridge found Meyer for an open trey with 2:49 remaining.

  Katie Hewett’s layup took Clear Lake’s lead back to three points, but it the Indians needed just :26 seconds to move into the lead for good. 

“We made up for a bad third quarter at the start of the fourth and had a little lead with about five minutes to go.  It’s just really hard to keep a scorer like Elle Ruffridge down the whole game.  They made their run late and we just ran out of time to make our own run.  I thought Kaye, Lindsey, and Emily did a tremendous job on Elle and made it tough for her all night to try and get into an offensive rhythm,” said Coach Smith.

Meyer drove the baseline for a basket and her sister, Grace, took a pass from Ruffridge and dropped in another three for a 58-56 lead with 1:54 remaining.

  Two turnovers hurt Clear Lake down the stretch and Pocahontas secured its victory by making five of six free throws, Ruffridge sinking four of them.

  Kaye Faber led Clear Lake (18-7) with 20 points, which included 4/8 shooting from three-point range. Lindsey Loudenburg had 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Lions, while Sidney Borrill added 11 points and 11 rebounds.  Hewett scored six points and pulled down five rebounds.  All were playing in their final high school game.

Senior Kylie Bottjen also saw considerable action in the game, but did not score.

Sophomore Emily Snelling scored five points, had two rebounds and three steals for the Lions.  Junior Erin O’Tool had one rebound and two steals.

  Clear Lake struggled with the Pocahontas press at times, but beat it often enough to get several layups, which contributed to the Lions’ 14/25 shooting from inside the arc. Loudenburg was 7/8 from the field and Borrill finished 5/8.

“There are a lot of things we can look back at on this game that we wish we could have done better, but overall I was very proud of how we executed our defensive game plan against the leading scorer in the state for all classes,” said Smith.  “Basketball is a game of runs and I felt we missed our opportunity to make a run in the third quarter to put some pressure on them going into the fourth.  We held them to four points in the third and if we could have taken care of the ball a little better and execute on the offensive end we would have been in good shape to start the fourth.”

The coach and his team expressed their thanks to those who attended the game.

“They got the pleasure to watch two really good teams play their hearts out for one another.  This was one of the best games I have ever been apart of.  I just wish we could have came home with a win.”

Pocahontas advanced to play Crestwood in Thursday’s semifinal round. The Indians topped Crestwood, 58-43, but fell to Nevada in Saturday’s Championship, 58-54.