By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

VERSAILLES — It was a close game throughout. Both teams held slim leads and battled to preserve it. The Versailles girls basketball team protected their home court and won 54-44 over Tri-Village on Feb. 3.

Versailles head coach Tracy White said they knew it was going to be a battle. The team prepared well for the Lady Patriots as the preparation showed on the court on game day.

“Our girls really locked in and those things that we fixed yesterday, we saw on the court today which is perfect. We’ve asked them to really focus on translating what we work on in practice to the court. I felt like we did that today,” White said.

It came down to executing in the fourth quarter. Tri-Village head coach Brad Gray said the turnovers and the offensive woes hurt them late in the game. While a game like this could help the team down the road in the tournament, it’s a tough pill to swallow right now losing this one.

“Hopefully we’re talking in a couple weeks, talking about the value that these games have. And hopefully made us better and prepared us for maybe what we will see in a couple weeks,” Gray said. “But when you’re going through it, it’s frustrating. You got to find a way to protect the basketball and get shots and win games like this.”

Tri-Village lead early as sophomore Kynnedi Hager scored six points to open the game. As the quarter ended, Versailles started to gain momentum and grabbed a lead.

The teams then traded leads early as Versailles got the lead with about five minutes left. They then held on to a two-possession lead before Hager made a shot at the buzzer to only be down 27-24 at halftime.

Then in the third quarter, Tri-Village started the quarter with a 6-0 lead to lead 30-27. The defense for both teams had periods of time where they shut down the opposing offense.

In stretches, the guards were able to disrupt passing lanes and didn’t let the opposing guards drive to the hoop easily. Both teams showed they could lock in defensively.

Gray said he felt like his team could play to the level of Versailles. It showed during the first three quarters of the game as they had a 38-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Then Versailles started to get hot on offense. All game long, Versailles senior Jenna Dirksen made many big threes to either give her team the lead or give them some separation.

White said the team followed Dirksen’s mentality of letting the missed shots not affect them and just focus ahead to the next one.

“When she’s (Dirksen) not making it, we talk about being blind and having a short term memory. You got to let it go and hit the next one. She’s really got that mentality and that mindset,” White said. “I saw a few of our girls as well from the first half to the second half develop that mindset.”

Versailles senior Allison Schwartz made a layup to go up 45-44 with 4:45 left in the fourth quarter. From that point on, Versailles held Tri-Village scoreless.

Gray said when the Lady Tigers were doubling Hager, Hager made the right plays to get the ball to an open shooter. The team just needs to knock down those shots or sometimes have the confidence to take them.

Gray said in big games like these, confidence might be an issue as they play a bit tight. He has seen his team be capable of making those shots, he just doesn’t see it down the stretch in some of these big games. That and the turnovers hurt the Lady Patriots.

“The turnovers killed us. It’s been a common theme in some of these games we lost. Going back to the CJ game, we were really bad in the fourth quarter down the stretch,” Gray said.

White said sophomore Katey Litten and all the guards played within themselves and were able to put the team in scoring positions against the zone. They were also able to push the pace in transition and take care of the ball.

The seniors as a whole stepped up to make plays. White said all of her seniors have either played to the best of their abilities or have worked to strive to play their best. They all have put in the extra time to improve and that mentality has spread to the whole team.

Litten led with 19 points has Dirksen had 15 points. Schwartz finished with 10 points.

This game doesn’t affect much for the tournament seeding. As things stand in the RPI rankings in Division III in the Southwest district North, they are sitting at the fifth seed.

“This is kind of one of those win-win games. Although you always want to have a win on the scoreboard, it’s kind of a win-win because you’re playing the highest level of competition you can play. If you can compete and you can do things well, then you can get confidence that way. You win the game, you get confidence that way. There’s no pressure on what it’s going to determine on Sunday,” White said.

For Tri-Village, Hager led with 18 points and sophomore Tai Mize had nine points. Gray said Hager played her best game this season.

The Lady Patriots are currently the two seed in Division IV in the Southwest district North. Gray said they have to figure things out to not limp into the tournament and strive to win now.

“That’s a young team. I’m tired of saying that, we’re young. We got to win now. No one wants to talk about what we’re going to do a year from now or two years from now. It matters right now to the kids that we have on this team. We have to figure how to fix it right so we can win right now,” Gray said.

Tournament draw will be on Feb. 4 in the afternoon.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]