Hume High School hosts Class 1 district tournament
The Class 1, District 7 tournament got under way Monday with first round play in the girls' bracket.
The Rich Hill Lady Tigers came into the tournament with a record of 13-12 that gave them the top seed and what most thought would be an easy game against the Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School Lady Cavaliers. The Lady Cavs came into the tournament as the eighth seed, having one just one of 24 games this season and brought with them a roster of just five players.
The Lady Cavs made up for their lack of roster depth in intensity early in the game as they were able to jump out to an early 7-2 lead. The Lady Tigers mounted a comeback in the closing minutes of the first period, however, to take a 9-7 deficit into the second period.
The Lady Cavs continued their intense level of play through the remainder of the half, dictating the tempo of the game right through the second quarter. After outscoring Rich Hill 13-10 in the quarter, the Lady Cavs took a 22-17 lead into the locker room at halftime and with it, some very obvious and much-needed momentum.
Mar-Kel West led the offensive effort for the Lady Tigers, finishing out the half as the only player in double figures with 10 points. For the Lady Cavs, Sally Currence broke into double figures as well, finishing the half with 10 of her own.
Head coach Brian Thomas had some strong words with his team in the locker room and it paid off as the pace of the game turned in the Lady Tigers' favor in the third quarter. Rich Hill came out and played hard in the third, outscoring Thomas Jefferson 17-10 to take a 34-32 lead into the game's final eight minutes.
Fatigue and Rich Hill's very obvious depth advantage began to take their toll in the fourth quarter as the Lady Cavs were able to put up just three points and allowing the Lady Tigers to take control of the game in the closing minutes. By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Lady Tigers had outscored Thomas Jefferson 14-3 in the period to take the victory by a final score of 48-35.
In the second game of the night, the Hume Lady Hornets took on the Bronaugh Lady Wildcats and were able to come out on top of another low-scoring contest by a final score of 37-27, despite coming into the game with just six players suited to play.
The Lady Wildcats struggled right from the start of the game and were unable to get on the scoreboard in the first eight minutes. That offensive stagnance allowed the Lady Hornets to jump out to a quick, 7-0 lead heading into the second period.
Bronaugh's offense found some life in the second quarter as they came out and outscored Hume 10-9 in the second period to cut the lead to six. The two teams swapped the lead on three different occasions in the second quarter and Hume needed a late run to maintain a 17-9 lead heading into halftime.
Taylor Morrison led the effort for the Lady Hornets in the first half, heading into the locker room with 10 points. For Bronaugh, scoring was fairly even in the first half, but Carly Schulze came out on top with four points.
The Lady Hornets came out of the locker room with even more intensity than at the beginning of the game and it showed as they were able to edge out Bronaugh, taking the quarter 12-10. Any momentum that the Lady Wildcats might have had was quickly extinguished and Hume ultimately took a 29-19 lead into the final frame.
Fouls became a substantial course of issue for both teams late in the game, resulting in one player from each side fouling out of the game late in the fourth quarter. Katlyn Douglas, who has consistently been the leading scorer for Bronaugh, fouled out of the game in the final minute and Hume's Jamee Fillpot quickly followed suit just 27 seconds later.
Despite being down to just five active players late in the game, the Lady Hornets were still able to hold on and take the victory by a final score of 37-27.
With the conclusion of those two games, Rich Hill and Hume both move on to the semifinals and will face each other with a trip to the district championship game on the line tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., inside the Hume High School gymnasium. The seasons of Thomas Jefferson Day School and Bronaugh came to an end with their first-round losses.
Two other games took place at the tournament as well, as Lockwood took on NEVC and Sheldon squared off against Golden City, but those results were not available at press time.