East Butler girls runner-up in State Class D-1 basketball
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 4:01 pm
By Kreig Ritter
Banner-Press Sports Editor
There was no Hollywood ending, but the East Butler girls basketball team still wound up with a feel-good story.
The second-ranked Tigers finished second in the Class D-1 State Tournament, losing 57-52 to third-ranked Elkhorn Valley in the championship game at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Saturday morning.
"We just fell too far behind," East Butler Coach Gerry Reinsch said. "We had too many dumb fouls and turnovers in the first half. We had trouble running our offense and weren't aggressive in the first half."
"They made me pull my hair out during the game, but our girls played with a lot of heart and were able to get it done,'' Elkhorn Valley Coach Brendan Dittmer said.
East Butler (22-4) is one of just four area teams to reach the finals of the girls' state tournament.
Rising City is still the only school to win a title, taking the 1984 Class D-2 championship. East Butler's 1988 team and Aquinas' 2009 squad were both Class C-2 runners-up.
The Falcons' physical style of play had carried them to two decisive tournament victories going into the finals. They held Stapleton-McPherson County to 7-of-37 shooting with 31 turnovers in a 44-20 first round victory Thursday afternoon. They flustered previous No. 1 Silver Lake with an 18-4 second half run in a 62-51 semifinal victory Friday morning.
Elkhorn Valley (18-7) tied Humboldt's 1982 team for most losses by a state championship winner.
That record was somewhat deceptive, as the Falcons had losses to the likes of C-1 semifinalist Lutheran High Northeast, C-1 No. 8 Crofton (twice) and C-1 contender Norfolk Catholic.
"We have played a lot of good teams. It's the type of schedule that will toughen you up and that's what it did. That's a tremendous credit to our kids, who learned from those teams and really improved," Dittmer said.
"Playing a good schedule definitely helps. I think Elkhorn Valley and us played the two toughest schedules of the teams in the tournament and it showed," Reinsch said.
The Tigers dug themselves too deep of a hole. Baskets by Sonya Legate and Halle Dittrich gave Elkhorn Valley a 37-22 lead with 7:16 remaining in the third quarter.
"That killed us. We wanted to get back in the game right away and then they get two easy baskets," Reinsch said. "Give them credit. They're a good team overall and their size was just too much for us."
The Falcons were on the verge of blowing the game wide open, but they knew the Tigers were dangerous.
"We knew it was coming," Dittrich said, "so we just had to keep our heads."
East Butler picked up its defensive intensity. The Falcons were 6-of-21 from the floor with 13 turnovers after building that 15-point lead.
Senior Marissa Bongers her had second straight slow first half, scoring just four points as the Falcons built their lead.
But just as she did against Humphrey Friday, Bongers picked up her pace in the second half. She hit four straight free throws to cut the Elkhorn Valley lead to 47-39 going into the fourth quarter.
The senior finished with 16 of her 20 points in the half.
“The Bongers girl is amazing. We knew she could put the team on her shoulders and carry it," Dittmer said.
Donnita Helman also picked up offensively. She hit a runner for two of her tourney-high 11 points.
Michaela Janak followed with a basket before Bongers scored off a steal and layup to cut the Elkhorn Valley lead to 50-48 with 5:16 remaining.
That's when the Falcons called timeout.
"I ranted and raved for a little while, which, ironically, calms them down," Dittmer said. "We talked about what we needed to do. We talked about where the open passes were going to be, the open passing lanes, and what they needed to do on defense."
East Butler had its chances. Jamie Henseleit stole the ball after the Tigers forced a turnover.
Helman hit a free throw on the Tigers next possession to cut the lead to one.
Sadie Rich hit a jumper to increase the lead. After a missed Tiger shot, Kyleigh Parham hit a free throw to put the Falcons up by four with 3:22 remaining.
The Tigers got a Bongers basket to get back within two. They had a possession to tie the game, but Helman's floating runner came up short. Sammi Rech stole the ball, but Chelsea Komenda couldn't get the jumper to fall.
Michaela Janak got a steal to get the ball back again.
Bongers was fouled on a shot attempt. She hit the first free throw, but the tying shot rolled off.
Parham rebounded, leading to a pair of Rich free throws with 34.9 seconds remaining.
The Tigers turned the ball over on their next possession, setting up Parham's free throw that made it a two-possession game with 19.8 seconds left.
"I'm proud of the girls. They never quit, which I knew they wouldn't. I think we had Elkhorn Valley on their heels. If we could have just gotten the lead or tied the game, I liked our chances," Reinsch said.
Elkhorn Valley made its first half push by beating the Tigers at their own game, getting to the free throw line.
The Falcons were 13-of-15 at the foul line in the first half.
"We talked about that. The reason we won yesterday was we shot 28 free throws to (Humphrey's) six. Kids get excited being in a championship game like this and we just got too aggressive," Reinsch said.
Elkhorn Valley's accuracy in the first half was also an improvement on their first two tournament games, when they shot a combined 21-of-39 (54 percent) at the stripe.
East Butler got a basket from Helman on the first possession of the second quarter to cut Elkhorn Valley's lead to 15-14.
Four Falcons scored in a 12-2 run to put the team up 27-16 with 5:08 left in the half.
"Their defense was tough and physical. They have a lot of big bodies who can get up and down the floor. We had trouble running a lot of plays we wanted to because of how big and physical they were," Reinsch said.
"They're the most physical team I've ever played," Janak said.
"We really have good depth and girls that can do a lot of things, so we're able to play that style of ball," Dittmer said.
The Tigers had won seven straight games without three-year starter Brittany Karber after she suffered a season-ending torn ACL. Saturday was when Karber's absence caught up to them.
"Absolutely. This was a game where we really could have used Brittany. The rebounding would have been more even with her in there. If we have her, I think we're state champions, but it's a credit to the girls we had that they gave it a great run without her. We were that close to winning it."
Karber became one of the team's biggest fans and did her best to supply motivation and advice as needed.
"It was tough being stuck on the bench, but I'm really happy with what they did. They did a great job of stepping up and getting here. I just tried to motivate them and get them to keep their heads up," she said.
The game ultimately seemed less like one the Tigers lost and more like one where the clock just ran out on them.
While there were tears and disappointment after the game, there were also smiles as the Tigers could look back on one of the most successful seasons in program history.
"It's been great. I couldn't ask for a better team to be a part of," Sisel said. "We were hoping to win today. That didn't happen, but we tried our best. I'm still happy with the results. A medal and a trophy is still a pretty good season."
"It's been an awesome experience," Bongers said. "Everybody contributed and did something to get us here. We just focused on each team we played and didn't look ahead. We wanted to win today. We came up short, we left everything we had out there. Elkhorn Valley's a good team."
The Tigers move on without four seniors - Bongers (the school's career scoring leader), Karber, Chelsea Komenda and Sisel.
"They're a great group. I'm really proud of them. They've come an awfully long way through the years. They're good kids and good leaders. Getting to the state championship is a credit to them."
It won't be the same not having the ability to put Bongers' name in the scorebook any longer.
"We're going to miss her a lot. You don't get players like that to come along very often. She was so athletic at and could do so many things. We've got a lot of work to do," Reinsch said. "At the same time, we return some good players who got a lot of good experience and we've got some younger players who could step up."
Bongers finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds and four steals. Helman added five rebounds and four assists. Komenda also had four assists. Sisel had four rebounds and three assists. Janak also hadd four rebounds. Sammi Rech got four steals.
Dittrich led a balanced Falcon attack with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Rich scored 12 points as well. Legate scored nine points. Parham had 13 rebounds, eight points and three steals. Cami Oelsligle added eight points, four rebounds and three steals. Jamie Henseleit had a game-high
five assists.
Photo Caption:
WHAT A RUN – From left – East Butler seniors Chelsea Komenda, Kylee Sisel, Marissa Bongers and Brittany Karber (who has out with a knee injury) get to sit with the Class D-1 runner-up trophy during postgame ceremonies Saturday. The Tigers went to state in three of the four seasons the four were part of the program. Bongers and Karber started the last three seasons while Komenda and Sisel started the last two. East Butler defeated Howells and Humphrey in the tournament before dropping a close game to Elkhorn Valley in the championship game. Photo by Kreig Ritter.
