Stephenson Girls Fall In State Semifinals At Breslin
EAST LANSING---The Stephenson High School girls basketball team had their playoff run come to an end Thursday night. The Eagles lost to Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart, 45-38, in a Class D state semifinal at Michigan State University's Breslin Center. Sacred Heart had allowed less than 30 points in multiple games during the regular season, and had won their quarterfinal game over Gaylord St. Mary, 27-26, on Tuesday. But the Eagles were able to find some early offensive success, taking a 14-11 lead after the first quarter. The game stayed close throughout the rest of the first half. Sacred Heart led, 21-20, at the half, but a Karley Johnson layup gave Stephenson a 25-23 lead with 6:03 left in the third quarter. In a tight game, an 8-1 scoring spurt can be huge, and that's the margin the Irish outscored the Eagles by late in the third quarter and early in the fourth. It gave the state's third-ranked team a 35-28 lead. Autumn Rasner nailed a three to bring Stephenson within 35-31, and Rasner hit another three with 2:16 left in the game to cut the gap to 40-36. The Eagles (24-3) could not make another shot the rest of the way, however. Stephenson coach Shanna Beal admitted that uptick in tempo might have drained her team’s energy a bit too quickly – although the inability to get many open looks and stop Sacred Heart's Averi Gamble down the stretch were also factors.
Gamble led the Irish (24-1) with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Scout Nelson and Sophie Ruggles each added ten points. Stephenson got 12 points from Karley Johnson and nine points each from Rasner and Kelsey Johnson. Tori Wangerin had six points and 13 rebounds in what turned out to be her final high school basketball game. Despite the loss, Beal says she's proud of what her group of Eagles accomplished. “I have no words; I’m super proud of the girls this year,” Beal said. “These three girls (Wangerin, Johnson and Kelsey Johnson) have grown up in the gym." "This was a dream of theirs, and I’m glad we were able to make it here. I believe we fought hard all the way to the end," Beal continued. "We have a lot of pride in being the first women’s team from our school to make it here. Most of our community was here; we’re pretty small, but that they were all here was great support.” Sacred Heart (24-1) will face Pittsford (26-0) in Saturday's state championship game. |