Semi final action of the girl’s junior high Panhandle Conference basketball Monday in Harrison featured a rematch of last year’s championship game. And, just as last year, it was the Rams of Crawford downing St. Agnes. The Rams bested the Crusaders 44 to 30 to advance to the finals where they won the tournament over Edgemont. With the loss, the Academy finishes their season with a 7 and 6 record. Alliance advanced earlier in the day with a win over Cody-Kilgore but a strong second half by the Rams was too much to overcome. Sioux County hosted the nine team tourney. Opening round winners were Edgemont, Hemingford, Crawford, and the Crusaders. Edgemont and Crawford then advanced into the finals where the Rams took first for the second time in a row.
Action early on had the Rams take a nice advantage. Crawford went on a 12 to 2 spree in the first period to gain control. A basket by Alliance’s Penn Vergil was the lone Academy tally. St. Agnes countered with 5 straight, getting tallies from Alexis Shelmadine, Vergil, and Kale Hulquist. The period ended with 3 points in a row by Crawford and the Rams leading 15 to 7.
A late spurt by the Academy in the closing stages of the second made things interesting. The quarter began with a deuce by Vergil and four straight by the Rams. Down by 10, a Hulquist hoop pulled SA to within 8 at 19 to 11. Following a Crawford basket, the Crusaders got a three from Shelmadine and a 2 from Vergil to make the board read Alliance 21 Crawford 16. The first half finished with a free throw by the Rams and SA trailing by only 6.
Crawford extended their margin in the third, outscoring the Academy 12 to 4. Following another bucket by Vergil that made it 23 to 18, the Rams increased their lead by scoring 8 in a row to go up 31 to 18. Quarter #3 came to an end with a basket by Hulquist and one free throw by CHS. With 3 periods in the book, the Lady Crusaders were down 32 to 20.
Period 4 started with a deuce by the Rams as the Academy fell behind by 14. St. Agnes then got a 3 from Paisley Intermill to close to 11 but 6 straight Ram tallies made it 40 to 23 with three minutes left to play. St. Agnes would outscore the Rams in last moments thanks to points by Vergil and Shelmadine but it wasn’t enough. Final Crawford 44 Alliance 30
ALL 7 9 4 10 30
CRA 15 7 10 12 44
Scoring for the Academy Vergil 13 Shelmadine 8 Hulquist 6 Intermill 3.