The storyline for St. Joseph-Ogden was set up perfectly: follow up the conference tournament crown with a regional championship and give the four seniors another chance to play at home in the sectional.

But that story was not meant to be, as St. Thomas More took away the Spartans chance to play a home sectional.

Though the team lost, they finish the year with a record of 24-6 and the memory of a superb effort in the conference tournament and the regional.

Westville halted

The Spartans’ defense made waves in their first game of the Class 2A St. Thomas More on Tuesday night.

The defense was championship-caliber against Westville, holding them to just two points for the first 11 minutes en route to a 72-18 win.

"I was really happy with the girls effort on defense. I felt like they were really motivated to come out and play,” SJ-O coach Brian Hatfield said. “Anytime you hold someone to under 20 points, that’s a pretty good effort all around.”

The Spartans defense was impregnable on Monday. The varsity players allowed just six points while they were on the court.

SJ-O blocked off the interior, shut down passing lanes and frustrated the Tigers in general. The Spartans stole the ball 29 times – senior Elizabeth Everingham contributed six alone.

In the first quarter SJ-O stripped Westville of the ball eight times and converted those turnovers into a 23-2 opening. The Spartans offense flowed from the defense, scoring in transition and passing adeptly around their opponent.

Josey Fruhling benefitted most from the Spartans’ free flowing offense. The senior scored 23 points and had five steals in the first round game. Fellow seniors Hannah Graham and Hannah Gaylord each scored 12 in the win.

Westville had their best quarter in the second, despite not scoring in the first three minutes of the period. But the Tigers suffered from unforced turnovers and foul trouble on Monday. The Spartans, however, kept turnovers to a minimum and committed only five fouls – all in the second half. By halftime SJ-O was comfortably ahead 39-10.

By the time the third quarter ended the Spartans held nearly a 50-point lead, 62-14. SJ-O’s starters watched from the bench for the entire fourth quarter.
“We live to play again, that’s the important thing. Our kids are going to have come out again focused and ready to guard,” Hatfield said. “We hope tonight is an indicator of what might happen Thursday, but it’s going to be a lot tougher. If we play like we did tonight we have a chance of winning.”

Defense does it again

Hatfield was full of praise for his team’s defense again on Thursday night. The girls stood firm against Bismarck-Henning (who had defeated them 39-28 on Jan. 24) and advanced with a 52-45 victory.

“The girls played really hard,” he said. “I haven’t seen them play with that much heart and emotion in a long time.

Everingham and Fruhling were specifically called out for their effort. Hatfield described Everingham as the best defender he’s since in two years. He also credited Fruhling for asking to defend B-H’s leading scorer Lori Haas and doing a good job on her.

Defense was matched by solid offense on Thursday. SJ-O hung with the talented Blue Devils and blew past them in the fourth.

After B-H tied the game at 42 with half the period to go, SJ-O stepped up their game. Fruhling stole the ball and made a layup, then, after one free throw by B-H, she drained two free throws to give her team a three point lead.

The clock ticked below two minutes to play and, in front of the bench, Hatfield screamed to his team to come up with one stop. They did and Everingham pulled away with a rebound. At the other end she was fouled and made both free throws to give the Spartans a cushion.

In the fourth quarter SJ-O made six of eight free throws, helping them clinch the victory. Everingham led everyone in scoring, picking up 26 points, and in rebounding, grabbing nine. Graham scored nine in the win.

After the game Hatfield talked alot about the team’s belief in themselves. He hoped that belief can carry them through to the SJ-O sectional.

“We ask our kids to just believe and see what we can do, and our seniors really bought into that,” he said. “We are SJ-O and we believe in ourselves.”

Sabers tough at home

There was no question of the Spartans belief on Friday, but it wasn’t enough to upset top seed St. Thomas More. In the third meeting of the season between these two teams the Sabers played tough and took the rubber match, 49-41.

The hosts defense rattled SJ-O. The Spartans committed more turnovers in the second quarter (11) than they did in their entire semifinal game (8). The girls committed 25 turnovers total in the championship game, 10 were steals by STM.

The Sabers’ point guard, Randa Harshbarger, caused a lot of problems for Everingham.

“E (Everingham) had a difficult night, but Randa is tough to go against,” Hatfield said. “I’ve not seen a kid as heady and who can operate a team the way she does. She never gets rattled.”

SJ-O also struggled when no one was guarding them. The team made just nine of 20 free throws on Friday.

Yet, for their struggles, the Spartans kept it a very close game to the finish. After STM had built an 11-point lead near the end of the third quarter, SJ-O went on a 12-1 run. Fruhling capped the run at 2:52 remaining with two of her team-high 13 points.

Gaylord gave SJ-O their first lead since the first quarter, 39-38, with a jumper at 1:59. But STM responded and finished the game with an 11-2 rally.

Everingham and Gaylord each scored seven points in the loss. Everingham also contributed six steals and Gaylord had 12 rebounds. Graham scored six in the final.