SCA Champs- Lady Bears Beat Houston and Take an Undefeated Conference Title

In a nail biting conclusion to a perfect conference season, the Lady Bears hosted the Lady Tigers from Houston for their final SCA game on February 18. The Bears hit the floor with a record of 18 and 5, and 6 and 0 in the SCA.

 

Players from Willow Springs came out almost too confident in the first two quarters. They struggled with accuracy on offense and with letting too many points through on defense. 

 

The Lady Tigers took the lead in the second quarter by taking advantage of every hole in Willow’s zone defense and by sinking foul shots during their numerous opportunities to take them. As the half closed, Houston had the lead with a score of 26 to 23, and fouls numbering 10 to 8. 

Tensions were high in the stands during the third quarter. Every foul called by the officials solicited boos and shouts from the crowd. 

 

After a timeout called by the Lady Bears’ head coach Judy Tilley in the third quarter, Willow returned to play with a chant of “finish what we started.”

 

With noticeable determination and focus, the Lady Bears turned the tide. Coach Tilley revealed in a post-game interview that the change was due in large part to changing tactics to a man-to-man defense. Back-to-back three-pointers from Ashlyn Jones and Liz Sheehan also energized the players and got the stands on their feet. 

“The girls really jumped in and shook it up. That got us out of the funk,” said Coach Tilley. 

 

 The Lady Bears retook the lead and held on to it, though the Lady Tigers did not give up without a fight. The lead remained tenuous going into the fourth quarter at 44 to 40.

 

“Houston did surprise me,” said Coach Tilley. The Lady Tigers’ defense made the Bears work hard for every point throughout the final quarter, but the girls from Willow Springs went after it like it was their right. 

 

The buzzer sounded with a final score of 63 to 53, Willow, and the Lady Bears became the sole possession SCA champions.

 

“I’m so proud of these kids; they’re great,” said Coach Tilley, “They’re not only good athletes, but they’re good kids.”

 

The Lady Bears now move on to District games, winning their first match against Mountain Grove on February 20.