28-0: MHS goes on a run for the ages

GIRLS BASKETBALL -- STATE TOURNAMENT SPECIAL
By: 
Pete Temple
Express Sports Editor

     It was looking like a game that would come down to a last shot.

     At halftime, Osage led Monticello 22-21 in the Class 3A Region 3 final Feb. 17 in Independence.

     With 6:10 left in the third quarter, Osage’s Mia Knudsen sank a three-point basket to give the Green Devils a 25-23 lead.

     Then it happened: a 28-0 run for Monticello that lasted a total of 8:56 of game time, from early in the third quarter to early in the fourth. An Osage basket finally ended the run with 5:14 to play, but the damage had been done; the Panthers had turned a two-point deficit into a 26-point lead.

     Outcome settled.

     What happened?

     “When we were talking in the locker room at halftime, we knew the first two minutes were crucial,” Panther senior Taylor McDonald said.

     Senior Lauren Ries agreed: “We knew we had to come out after halftime and just take it to them. When we play as a team, nobody can beat us.”

     Maddie Fellinger started the run with a shot in the lane and, later, a pair of free throws which, it turned out, put the Panthers ahead for good.

     McDonald scored on a layup. Then came a pair of layups off assists: Jordan Kuper to Ries, and McDonald to Kuper. When Fellinger followed with a three-pointer, Monticello suddenly led 36-25.

     It wasn’t over. McDonald scored again with 42 seconds left in the third, and Ries canned a three-pointer at the buzzer for a 43-25 lead, sending Monticello’s players and fans into a near-frenzy.

     Kuper, Ries, McDonald and Maddie Lambert added points early in the fourth quarter to bring the margin to 51-25 with 5:55 to play.

     On the other end, Osage made just one three-point shot in the second half, after sinking four in the first half. The Green Devils also missed layups on a couple of occasions.

     Each time, Osage was limited to one shot, largely because of a strong rebounding effort for the Panthers. Kuper had 11 of the team’s 36 rebounds for the game, Fellinger had seven, Taylor McDonald and Ries had six apiece, and Maddie Lambert had four.

     “We were able to convert shots, push the tempo, and I thought we hit the glass well,” Panther coach Donnie Kremer said. “They just did what they were supposed to do; play basketball.”

     

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