Lady Wolverines find their groove in the second half

by Zane Davis
 A disappointing loss to the Parma Panthers in the first round of the 3A Idaho Real Dairy Shootout State Tournament pushed the Lady Wolverines into the consolation side of the tournament bracket, pitting them against the Filer Wildcats in the second round of play.
 The Wildcats took the tip and hit a bucket within seconds of the start of the game, following it up with a steal and another lay-up to take a 4-0 lead over the Wolverines. 
 Both squads implemented a full-court press, but unfortunately, the Wildcat press proved to be far more successful in the early minutes and kept the Wolverines from making it very far beyond half court and preventing any shots for over a minute of play.  
 Head coach, Laraine Harrison, called a time-out to discuss matters with her team, and the Lady Wolverines left the break in play with a much-improved energy, press break, and ball movement.  The improvement resulted in some very fast passes, leaving Tobie Noyer all alone under the basket for a 2-footer. Noyer followed it up with a steal and the pass to freshman, Kailee Lerew, for the bucket. 
 The Weiser defense stepped it up a notch to begin stealing the ball the way the Wildcats had previously been doing, but before they could tie the game, the Wildcats pulled ahead again with a 3-pointer.  
 Trailing 4-9, Mattie Shirts got the putback to pull within 3-points at 6-9, but a series of bad passes and turnovers, opened the door again for the Wildcats, enabling a 7-0 run by the Wildcats.  
 Harrison asked for another timeout and after a trio of missed inside shots by the Lady Wolverines, Lerew broke the lid on the basket for 2-points.  Patience and good ball movement gave Shirts a bucket inside the paint and a great pass from Brady Reed to Jasi Yraguen ended the first quarter with the Lady Wolverines trailing 12-16.
 The first three minutes of play in the second quarter yielded only 1-point for the Wildcats, but better defense by the Wolverines and some stellar play by Reed off the bench bridged the scoring gap and tied the game 18-18 with a basket from Noyer and a pair of buckets from Reed.  The Wildcats capitalized on a pair of free throws, but Reed tied the game again with 2-points from the charity stripe for a score of 20-20.  
 The Lady Wolverines continued to work hard on both ends of the court, and despite allowing the Wildcats an open 3-pointer and 4-points from the line, the Lady Wolverines kept the lead within their grasp with a basket and a free throw from Yraguen to end the first half trailing 23-27.
 A short break, a drink of water, and inspiration from their leader, Coach Harrison, was just what the Lady Wolverines needed in the second half of play against the Filer Wildcats.  Although the Lady Wolverines struggled a bit early on with shots, their defense caused numerous Wildcat turnovers and held them to a 3-pointer and a free throw. 
 Meanwhile, the Lady Wolverines eliminated a 7-point deficit with a beautiful inside move by Shirts for the basket, followed by back-to-back-to-back 3 pointers from Noyer, Morris and Noyer again.  
 With slightly over 1:30 left in the period, the Lady Wolverines took their first lead of the game with a 15-4 scoring run over the Wildcats. 
 The Lady Wolverines began the final period with an impressive 38-31 lead over the Wildcats.  The Lady Wolverine full-court press proved to be punishing to the Wildcats in the early minutes, resulting in a plethora of turnovers.  The Lady Wolverines took full advantage of the opportunities afforded to them by their defense and translated it into points as the Lady Wolverines continued to expand their lead.  
 Macy Maloney had a rebound and the putback as well as a nice drive from the top of the key for a floater.  Noyer was also on fire in the fourth quarter with a drive of the lane for 2 and a basket inside off the feed from Shirts.  
 By the 4 minute mark of the fourth quarter, the Lady Wolverines had expanded their lead to 12-points (48-36) and held the Wildcats to only 5-points that were all the result of free throws.  Sadly, some of the fouls that put the Wildcats on the line also used up the allowable 5-fouls for Shirts with quite a bit of game left to play.  Despite the loss of their inside player, the Lady Wolverines stepped up to fill the gap and with a comfortable, yet tenuous, 48-38 lead, the Lady Wolverines began to take their time on their possessions and eat up the clock.  
 The Wildcats, with their back against the wall and fighting the waning minutes, were forced to foul the Wolverines to try and get a rebound and gain possession of the ball. The Lady Wolverines stepped to the line 11 times in the last 3-minutes, but only capitalized on the freebies four times.  
 Maloney added another basket for the Wolverines, but the struggling Wildcats found some momentum at the end with 4-points from the field. However, the Lady Wolverines had too large a lead for the Wildcats to overcome and the Lady Wolverines took the game 54-47 and advanced to the Consolation Championship game against the Fruitland Grizzlies.
 Junior, Tobie Noyer, led the Lady Wolverines with 18-points, of which 14 were in the second half.  Brady Reed wasn’t far behind with a big game coming off the bench with 10-points.  Mattie Shirts, Jasi Yraguen, and Macy Maloney all stepped up to contribute 6-points each to the win, and Kailee Lerew and Ivy Morris added 5-points and 3-points, respectively. 
 Tobie Noyer was named the Shift Player of the Game by the NFHS Network and Brady Reed was mentioned, as well, for her outstanding play.
 
 

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18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
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