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Making their way to Frankfort High School on Saturday morning to compete in the semi-state round of the IHSAA playoffs for the second straight season, the Whitko girls basketball team found itself engaged in a tight battle against Oak Hill. The Lady ‘Cats started slowly and played catch up for the entirety of the contest, but were unable to get over the hump, falling 66-58 in what was the team’s final game of the season.
It took the Lady ‘Cats a few minutes to get into a rhythm, allowing the Golden Eagles to take an early 4-0 lead in the game. Nearly three minutes came off the clock before a three pointer by Ally Brown finally put Whitko on the board.
Giving up a shade under 28 points a game, the Oak Hill defense looked incredibly sharp to start the contest. The home team on the scoreboard was giving the Lady ‘Cats a taste of their own medicine, making the visitors incredibly uncomfortable in the half court and mucking things up by deflecting passes and rotating with some well-timed double and triple teams.
This strong start by the Golden Eagles allowed the home side to take an early 11-5 lead. Oak Hill was playing incredibly aggressively on offense as well, converting on a trio of and-ones in the first quarter. As was the case a week ago in the regional, a timely corner three by Jocelyn Luecke seemed to be the spark that Whitko needed. The visitors ended the first period a whole lot better than they started it, but still trailed 16-14.
That momentum completely disappeared in the opening minutes of the second. The Golden Eagles continued to dictate the game on both ends, scoring seven straight points to take a nine-point lead. The Lady ‘Cat offense was completely out of sorts thanks to the lockdown defense that Oak Hill was playing. Whitko was struggling to find any open looks at all, and when they finally did, they were unable to connect. The misses were starting to stack up, as frustration began to mount as the result.
With just four minutes until halftime, Whitko had still not scored in the second quarter. The Golden Eagles were playing a practically perfect game, while the Lady ‘Cats were struggling mightily on both ends.
Whitko senior Reese Stonebraker scoops in a shot past Oak Hill's Erika Newhouse during the first quarter...Nieter
Another massive three by Luecke finally put Whitko on the board five minutes into the quarter, and followed up by a Brown layup, suddenly it was a six-point game again. On the other end, the visitors were starting to pick it up on defense, coming up with some crucial turnovers to hold the home side at bay. With just over two minutes before the half, Reese Stonebraker hit a three for her first points of the game, and just like that, the Lady ‘Cats had fought back to make it a one-possession contest.
Oak Hill responded incredibly well to the 8-0 run by their opponents, ending the period on a 7-0 spurt of their own to take a 10-point lead into the locker room. In a situation the team had not found itself in very often this season, Whitko would have its work cut out for it in the second half.
The two sides spent the first three minutes of the third quarter trading buckets, a development that didn’t do much to help the trailing Lady ‘Cats. To make matters worse for the visitors, Hazel Leffers, the team’s top perimeter defender, picked up her fourth foul with 12 minutes left in the game.
Junior Kyra Lowe of Whitko drives the lane to the basket during the third quarter...Nieter
Over the next two minutes, Jayma Stonebraker and Luecke each hit a shot from beyond the perimeter to bring their team to within six. The Whitko defense had begun to really put some pressure on Oak Hill, slowing the home side down dramatically, but the aggressive defense came with a price, as the fouls were starting to stack up for the visitors.
Jayma continued to rain down the threes as the third quarter winded down, including a massive one with 30 seconds left to bring her team back within three. After a crucial defensive stop at the other end, the Lady ‘Cats headed into the final eight minutes having erased seven points off the deficit and now trailed 43-40.
Whitko continued to chip away as the fourth quarter got started, and even though the Golden Eagles were still trading baskets with the visitors, the Lady ‘Cats were ending their possessions with three points compared to Oak Hill’s twos. With six minutes left, it was a two-point game.
At this point, the game had pretty much devolved into a three-point contest, but the shots were still falling. Each side was trying to out do the other, matching shot after shot from distance. It was going to come down to which team could come up with a crucial stop, and after a pair of big ones for the home side, they led by seven at the midway point of the quarter.
With two and a half minutes left and her team down by nine, Jayma hit a corner three and was fouled, giving her the chance to make it a five-point game by converting the four-point play. She missed the free throw, but had given her team some new life when things had started to look extremely bleak.
A shot inside by Kyra Lowe after two split free throws at the other end made it a five-point game with less than two minutes left. After winning a jump ball, the visitors had a chance to make it a one-possession game again, but came up empty. With less than 90 seconds left, Lowe fouled out, joining Leffers on the bench. Oak Hill took advantage, hitting a pair to go back up by seven.
With less than a minute to go, Jayma picked up her fifth foul as well, making her the third starter to foul out. Having been in the bonus for a majority of the fourth quarter, the Golden Eagles were taking advantage at the charity stripe, hitting every crucial free throw down the stretch to seal the upset victory.
Whitko (25-2) will return next season. In the first game of the day, Bremen defeated Lapel 60-43. The Golden Eagles defeated the Lady Lions 66-57 in the championship game on Saturday night to advance to the state finals.
