Gibsonburg slips by Lakota in district semifinal

TONTOGANY – Third time would not be the charm for the Lakota Raiders as their season came to an end at Ostego High School Thursday in a Division IV district semifinal. "Lakota's theme was 'third times a charm. Well that ended up working out in our favor." said Head Coach of the Gibsonburg Golden Bears Bo Evarts. The Golden Bears got a narrow victory of 37-35 over the Raiders in district semifinal play. "I'm so proud of these girls. We competed and that's all I wanted for my team." said Head Coach of the Lakota Raiders Erin Foos. "(Gibsonburg) competed. They had a gameplan, executed that game plan, and so did we. It all came down to that last second shot. My girls fought hard from start to finish and I couldn't be more proud of them." The last two seconds of the game, which would have to be put back on the clock, allowed for Lakota to have the ball. Jazmyne Morant though would break up the pass that would have allowed for Lakota to shoot by smacking the ball away, and holding onto it to end the season for the Raiders. "Elly has been in that situation a few times this season, but her and Morant would make something happen. Those last 10 seconds, they couldn't get a shot off." said Coach Evarts. Throughout the game, there would be times where the teams were one point apart. First quarter of game play, the defenses for both teams would keep the scoring low. Lakota would only have four points between Aubrey Vitte and Riley King. The Golden Bears would have only five points on the board, thanks to Leah Hall and Morant scoring a basket each, and Evarts making a free throw. "They know us well. (Lakota) had a gameplan coming in. We knew that defensively we could control the game, but offensively we struggled but that's because Lakota put the pressure on us defensively. I thought we could relax a little bit, but because it was always so close, again thanks to pressure from Lakota." Second quarter wouldn't be much of a scoring game either. Sophia Paul would miss her shot, with Hall rebounding the shot to pass to Evarts. Evarts would score a trey with that play, and earn a trip to the free throw line for a conversion shot, giving her four points to bring them to nine. Riley King for Lakota would shoot a 3-pointer, bringing the game to nine overall before Morant scores a free throw to break the tie. Lakota though would see Cassidy Foos passing the ball to Vitte, which would result in a basket that would pull Lakota ahead for the first time in the game. Lakota would increase the lead by four points, before a back-and-forth ball game would bring the two within six points of each other for the end of the third. The fourth quarter, the Golden Bears would put 17 more points on the board, as well as defensively making sure that the Raiders couldn't score more than nine more points. In the end, it came down to the final possession, and Gibsonburg knew it. As far as the seniors, according to Coach Foos. "It's the end of an era for some of them. They are sad, especially since some have played since Kindergarten. To get it ripped away like that, it's hard, but my girls have thick stock, and I know that they have brighter things for the future," Foos said. "I'm excited for them to move on and be an adult." Senior Emma Gregg would be the top scorer for the Raiders, with 11 points on the night. One of her 3-point shots would be at the end of the third quarter, with scoring a trey earlier in that same quarter. She would go on to score five more points with a 3 that was at the two and a half minute mark; that would be an answer back to Evarts, whom had scored a basket right before Gregg's three. Gregg would be at the free throw line making both of the shots, which would tie the game at 33 each before Leah Hall of Gibsonburg broke the tie with a basket. Top scorer for the Golden Bears would by league leader Evarts, who had 17 points between six out of seven free throws, one trey and four baskets. "We knew that coming into this year that we had a good one in her. Once people started to figure her out, they would throw different defenses at us," coach Evarts said. "Lakota has a great defender in Aubrey Vitte and Elly knew that it was going to be a tough battle. She went into the game thinking we would win and she has a lot of confidence. "The seniors have welcomed her and that's huge with being a freshmen. Sometimes when an underclassmen is a lead scorer, the upper classmen can get upset. They welcomed her and she has meshed well with this team." As for watching her daughter Cassidy play her last game, Coach Foos said: "It's hard. Second year in a row. I wanted to coach these girls hard. At the same time, I wanted to enjoy my daughter's last game," she said. "To enjoy the moment, I think I did that." Foos would score a total of seven points, five during the third quarter. During the third, she would score a trey that would bring the Raiders back up and over by one point after scoring a basket on a possession prior. She would then score one more basket in the fourth. "Coming into the season, to lose those first three games, to then bounce back like we did, and to be third in the league, with a record of 18-6 now with this loss, speaks about the character of my team. We don't back down, we kept fighting. We showed tremendous growth and tremendous chemistry that will bode well for our future. Our underclassmen have showed tons of growth and that makes me excited." said Coach Foos about the Raiders.