In a back and forth county rivalry game, Spirit Lake pulled out a 60-52 lead over Okoboji in Regional 1 Quarterfinal action on Saturday night in Spirit Lake. The Pioneers would jump to a 6-1 lead on a basket by Montana Wilson, and then a 3-pointer by Olivia Lorenzen would push it to 9-3 before Spirit Lake answered with four straight points to cut the lead to 9-7 on a basket by Taylor Schneider. Okoboji would push that margin to 18-12 at the end of the first quarter with two free throws by Tara Pas. Okoboji would extended their lead to 22-14 on a basket by Makenna Helmers, but Spirit Lake answered that with a 10-2 run to end the half and pull even for the first time since the opening tip at 24-24. The Indians would take their first lead of the game at 27-24 on a 3-pointer by Stella Donkersloot, and the teams would battle it out all quarter after that, with Okoboji tying things up at 33-33 on a basket by Megan Titterington with 2:30 left in the quarter. A huge 3-point play at the end of the quarter by Spirit Lake’s Ella Turner would give the Indians a 39-35 lead entering the final frame. The Indians would push that lead to 47-38 with 6:30 left on a steal and lay-up by Turner but Okoboji would not go away, as Carly Carstens hit a basket to stem the run and then the Pioneers would pull within three several times, the last time at 51-48 with 2:00 left on free throws by Ava Packebush. Spirit Lake would answer with a big basket by Brooke Smith on the next possession and the Indians would salt the game away from there at the free throw line. Ava Packebush led Okoboji with 10 points and 5 rebounds; Montana Wilson added 10 points and 3 rebounds; Lynnae Abrahamson added 8 points and Olivia Lorenzen led the Pioneers with 4 assists and 3 steals to go along with 6 points. Molly Van Dyke led Spirit Lake with 16 points and 8 rebounds; Taylor Schneider added 12 points and 4 assists and Brooke Smith also finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds. Okoboji finishes the season at 10-13 while Spirit Lake improves to 11-11 and will advance to play at #2 West Lyon on Wednesday night.
Comments From Okoboji Coach John Adams
Wow, just so proud of our effort and fight all night long. We got off to a great start with some solid defense and big 3-pointers by Olivia and Lynnae. We knew Spirit Lake would answer and they did that in the second quarter with some big 3’s by Brooke. I felt like the game changed on that last play of the 3rd quarter as we had a great look to take the lead and just didn’t get it to fall, and then had the call go against us at the other end, so instead of being up one we were down four. That charge/block call is definitely the hardest one to make in basketball and I’m sure every Spirit Lake fan felt like it was the right call and every Okoboji fan thought it wasn’t. We kept fighting in the fourth quarter but you’ve got to give Spirit Lake credit as every time we would trim it to 3 they had a big answer. The difference of the game was they outrebounded us 29-20 as many of the other stats were pretty even. It was a great night of basketball in front of a really good crowd where I felt like both teams laid it all on the line and both teams played well; that’s all you can ask for as a coach. We will really miss our four seniors, Tara Pas, Ella Stoll, Megan Titterington and Montana Wilson and cannot thank them enough for their selfless service to our program the last four years. They made a huge impact on the court and more importantly, a larger one with the legacy of leadership they provided off the court.
