Lebanon girls advance to sectional after big win in regional title game
Lebanon junior center Madison Schoenfeld scored 17 points and added 13 rebounds Friday as the Greyhounds defeated the Metro-East Lutheran Knights 57-19 in the title game of the Class 1A Madison Regional.
Ranked first in the Class 1A state poll, the Greyhounds (28-1) missed their first seven 3-point attempts and didn’t make a field goal for more than three minutes to start the game. Lebanon turned up the defense against the Knights backcourt and turned the game into a rout with a 21-5 scoring run during the final 11 minutes of the first half. Schoenfeld and junior Kendra Bass combined for 18 points during the run.
Metro-East Lutheran (9-17) committed 17 of its 26 turnovers in the first half.
“We survived tonight,” Greyhounds coach Chad Cruthis said. “We didn’t shoot the basketball well at all. We were 1 of 15 from beyond the arc in the first half. But we take a lot of pride in our defense, and tonight that defense was the difference.”
The win lifts Lebanon into the Hardin-Calhoun High School Sectional, where it will play Hardin-Calhoun at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the sectional semifinal. Hardin-Calhoun defeated Lebanon in the sectional a year ago and went on to win the Class 1A state championship.
Key sequence
Metro-East Lutheran, which upset fourth-seeded Madison on Thursday to reach the title game, trailed 10-6 after one quarter. But a six-minute scoring drought at the beginning of the second quarter stopped any hopes the Knights had of pulling off the upset.
Meanwhile, Lebanon took control with a 12-0 run. Schoenfeld scored on an offensive rebound and free throw, and Kendra Bass made a 3-point jumper and scored on a pass from sister Krista Bass to put Lebanon up 18-6.
When Krista Bass and Casey Berberich scored off turnovers, Lebanon’s lead was 22-6 with two minutes left in the half. Metro-East Lutheran would get no closer.
“Honestly, I thought we played pretty good defense for the first half,” Knights coach Rob Stock said.”It’s just that we couldn’t handle their pressure very well. They are just so quick. They make you play faster than you want to.”
Key performers
Kendra Bass added 13 points for Leabnon, while sophomore Emily Reinneck added 11. Sami Kasting led Metro-East Lutheran with six points.
This story was originally published February 11, 2017 at 12:46 AM with the headline "Lebanon girls advance to sectional after big win in regional title game."