Lady Cardinals conclude undefeated conference season ahead of postseason

By: 
Skylan Akins

Miller senior Hailey Mart shoots a three against Marionville on Senior Night. Mart has missed the majority of the season with a torn ACL suffered back in early December, but hopes to tough out the pain for the postseason run.
 

The Lady Cardinals capped off an 8-0 record in the SWC last week with a 57-32 win over the Marionville Lady Comets on Tuesday night.
After a defensive first quarter, the offense of the Lady Cardinals emerged with a 19-point second quarter, led by seven points from sophomore Kendall Neely. The defense of Miller continued to be their strength as they held a high octane Lady Comet attack to just 16 first half points on the way to a 30-16 first half lead. A solid third quarter from senior leader Rose Hill on both sides of the ball pushed this game out of reach early in the third quarter, as Miller coasted to the easy win behind 16 points from Hill.
“It was a big game as a Marionville graduate,” coach Ryan White said following the game. “I always thought I’d be over there but it just didn’t work out, but I am glad to be where I’m at. But it was personal for me. I told the girls that I’m going to make this one about you but at the same time, I want this one bad and I want to play the best basketball we can.”  

White added that his team’s defense is the key.
“We have a goal of not letting the other team score 30 and we are going to hold your best player under 10, and we did allow 32 points but their best player had just seven. So our girls rise up to the challenge you ask them to do, so I am just really proud of them.”
Senior Haylie Schnake had a great game on the defensive side and was excited about getting this win.
“This was a really big game for us,” Schnake said. “Obviously with Coach White being from Marionville, but also on our Senior Night and have a chance to win the conference outright. We were prepared for Lucy (Newberry) to score, but we played really well defensively and held her to just seven points. I am really proud of us.”
The Lady Cardinals improve to 22-4 for the year and head into their district as the top seed in the Class 2 District 13 tournament. They will open on Thursday in Morrisville at 6 p.m. against the winner of Osceola and Ash Grove. They have a potential third matchup with a once-state-ranked Marion C. Early squad looming in a potential championship game, but Schnake is ready for the challenge.
“I am excited for playoffs,” Schnake said. “It’s a little bit more nerve wracking this time around because you don’t really know when your last game is going to be. We just have to come out and play as hard as we possibly can every single game and can’t have an off day. But I’m super excited because I have the confidence that we are going to do great things come postseason.”
 

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Lawrence County Record

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