To say interest was high in Friday’s girls/boys doubleheader with Lockwood and Jasper would be an understatement. LHS officials had to lay out a row of folding chairs at court level to accommodate the more-than-capacity crowd. Fans on both sides went home happy as the hometown Tigers and the visiting Lady Eagles both completed undefeated seasons in the Spring River Valley Conference.
Jasper Girls 52-35
The Lady Eagles (24-1, 9-0 SRVC) usually count on a balanced offense from the likes of Liz Maneval, Morgan Winchester, and Bri Cawyer. However, Coach Kent Anderegg had to make some changes on the fly when Cawyer went down with an ankle injury late in the first quarter and would not return.
“Some of our game plan had to change because of foul trouble,” said Anderegg. “And then we had an injury to one of my starters [Cawyer]. It’s an ankle. I don’t know how serious it is, but we’re going to save her for next week.”
Lockwood (18-7, 7-2) put five points on the board—all by Moriah Coose—early in the second quarter as the Lady Tigers briefly took a 12-11 lead. But it was all Jasper—Lexie Royster and Anne-Marie Annibal in particular—from then on as the duo combined for an 18-0 run for a 29-12 halftime advantage.
“We usually have about five starters that score more than seven points a game,” said Anderegg. “Those two stepped up on the offensive end, but it was obvious that the others were doing things whether it was assists, steals, or playing defense. The rest of the team definitely contributed to the win.”
The Eagles’ smothering defense was a problem for Lockwood all night as the majority of the Tigers’ 29 turnovers came on unforced errors. On top of that, there seemed to be a lid on Lockwood’s goal for everyone but Coose, as the Lady Tigers only canned 3 of 12 from 3-point range.
“The girls have been playing great defense all year long,” Anderegg noted. “When you take a great program like Lockwood and put 18 points in a row on them, it’s a big deal and I’m proud of them for that.”
Lockwood coach Kara Kinney said, “We didn’t shoot very well tonight, but that was because they play pretty good defense and they have a solid team. They sped us up when we should have slowed down, and when they speed us up we make bad decisions.”
Anibal led Jasper with 26 points while Royster was right behind with 20. Coose was the only Lockwood player in double figures with 19 points.
The two teams could see each other again next Saturday in the finals of the Class 2 District 13 tournament at Rich Hill. The top-seeded Lady Eagles open on Monday against Archie, while the third-seeded Tigers challenge league foe Liberal with Adrian likely awaiting in the semifinals.
Jasper 11 18 13 10—52
Lockwood 7 5 16 7—35
Jasper: Anne-Marie Anibal 26, Lexie Royster 20, Morgan Winchester 4.
Lockwood: Moriah Coose 18, Heather Brynes 7, Kaylee Kennon 5, Rylee Neill 3, Makenzie Purinton 1.
Lockwood Boys 57-40
Tiger seniors Ben Schnelle and Jake Brynes made the most of their final game on the home floor but a little help from sophomore Cade Holman. Holman knocked down his first two trey attempts to help the Tigers jump out to a 21-10 first quarter advantage which became 38-17 by intermission. The 6-foot-6 Schnelle was able to get inside consistently for easy layups or chances at the foul line (he made 9 of 10 free throws). Brynes did a little bit of everything, slashing to the hole early then stepping back for threes later on.
“We’ve been coming off some slow starts lately,” said Lockwood coach Aaron Shockley. “That was one of our big emphases. We wanted to come out and establish a tone early and get a lead and keep it and play with the lead instead of having to get from behind, and the guys did a great job of that.”
Jasper struggled shooting throughout the contest even though the Eagles got plenty of good looks. In the second half they managed to reduce the deficit to 10 points but Coach Tyler Gripka was then charged with a technical foul for questioning the officials on an out-of-bounds play and that would be as close as they would get.
“The first half we just didn’t play well,” said Gripka. “We turned the ball over, didn’t take care of it, started playing too fast and couldn’t make any shots. We were getting shots we wanted; we just couldn’t put them in the hole.”
Schnelle led all scorers with 21 points with Holman adding 15 and Brynes 14. Blake Jeffries paced Jasper with 12.
Shockley said, “Jake and Ben being seniors on Senior Night, this crowd was huge, and they’ve been working for five years and finally got [the conference championship]. I’m so proud of them and it’s well deserved for sure.”
Like the girls, Lockwood and Jasper would meet in the district finals at Rich Hill should they get there, but both would have to pull off an upset to do it. Lockwood (18-7, 9-0 SRVC) is the 3-seed against Archie in the first round with 2-seed Adrian awaiting in the semis. If 4-seed Jasper (15-9, 6-3) gets by Greenfield on Tuesday, the Eagles would face undefeated Rich Hill.
Jasper 10 7 12 11—40
Lockwood 21 17 11 8—57
Jasper: Blake Jeffries 12, Levi Brown 6, Nick Adkins 6, McGwire Rice 4, Caleb Brown 4, Nick Chartier 3, Bryon Stevens 2, Logan Winchester 2.
Lockwood: Ben Schnelle 21, Cade Holman 15, Jake Brynes 14, Logan Sparkman 4, Ethan Bates 2, Will Beerly 1.
