Lady Wolverines bring home State consolation trophy

by Zane Davis

 The Lady Wolverines battled to get into the 3A Idaho State Basketball Tournament, and then clawed their way into the Consolation Championship game at the State Tournament.  

 A loss to the Parma Panthers and then an impressive come-from-behind win against the Filer Wildcats, gave the Lady Wolverines one more opportunity to take home some hardware for the first time since 2010.  

 The Lady Wolverines faced off for the consolation trophy against fellow Snake River Valley (SRV) Conference competitors, the Fruitland Grizzlies.  The Grizzlies had bested the Lady Wolverines in both of their previous meetings during the regular season, and the Lady Wolverines hoped to rectify that record with a win when it counts the most.

 The first quarter of the matchup was primarily a defensive showing, as the shots were simply not falling for either team.  The Grizzlies finally got on the board with a 3-pointer, 3-minutes into the period, but despite numerous second and third opportunities, the Lady Wolverines didn’t score until more than half of the period had elapsed.  

 Mattie Shirts broke the scoring drought with a pair of free throws, and Kendall Rynearson came off the bench with a basket inside the paint. Good defense by the Wolverines forced several turnovers by the Grizzlies and allowed a free throw by Tobie Noyer to tie the game at 5-5. Unfortunately, before the time expired on the first quarter, the Grizzlies had added a basket in the paint and two free throws to take a 9-5 lead.

 Someone put a cap on both baskets before the second quarter because neither team had much success in the scoring department. 

 Noyer drained a 3-point bucket and Kailee Lerew and Mattie Shirts each added 2-points to the cause, but the Wolverines missed nine of their shots in the period. However, the Grizzlies were having similar success from the field, missing seven shots, and only scoring 4-points, minimizing their lead to a mere 1-point (13-12) over the Wolverines at the halftime break.

 Shirts came out of the locker room and quickly took the lead again for the Lady Wolverines with a bucket inside the paint, followed by the steal and a lay-up from Noyer.  Fruitland countered with a baseline basket.  

 Leading 16-15, the Lady Wolverine defense forced double digit turnovers by the Grizzlies and limited them to only three successful baskets throughout the third quarter.  Meanwhile, 100 percent free throw shooting from Noyer and Shirts added 4-points to the Wolverine tally.  Kailee Lerew added a steal and the fastbreak lay-up to give the Lady Wolverines a 22-21 lead after three periods.

 The Grizzlies looked like they had found some mojo to begin the fourth quarter with a fast basket to pull within 1-point at 22-21, but the full-court press of the Lady Wolverines kept them on their heels and caused countless turnovers.  

 Shirts got one to fall midway through the final period and Macy Maloney went back-to-back with a drive in the paint and a long jumper, giving the Wolverines a 28-21 lead.  

 Shirts found herself all alone for a lay-up to expand the lead, and then added the 1-and-1 for the shooting foul.  

 The Wolverines scored 9-points in the first 5-minutes of the fourth quarter, but more importantly, they held the Grizzlies scoreless during the same time period and only allowed the Grizzlies 4-points; all from the free throw line.