Lebanon rallies back to top Waynesville in district title game

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By Riley Bean

Waynesville, MO – When these two teams squared off on January 19, the result was indeed lopsided.  Waynesville rolled into Lebanon and got pounded by 43 points.

Friday’s district championship game was a different story.  The game was much more competitive, but the outcome was the same.

The top-seed Lebanon Lady Yellowjackets prevailed in the Class 5, District 10 title game 41-32 over Waynesville, marking the first district title for Kelsey Winfrey and this group of Lebanon seniors.

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“Coach always told us to forget about the first time we played them because we had a really good game,” said Winfrey.  “Jaiden Offutt shot 75 percent from the three-point line, and [Waynesville] had kind of an off game.  So Coach told us just to forget about that and this is districts.  Anything can happen in the post season, so we were coming into this game knowing that we were going to have to fight, box out, get rebounds, D up; we knew that it was going to be a hard fight.  We didn’t think we were going to blow them out by 40 at all.  We did not have that in our mind at all.”

It was much tougher for Lebanon this time around.  Waynesville scored the first points of the game and led much of the first half.  In fact, they held a 19-14 lead over Lebanon midway through the second quarter.

But a pivotal moment in that second quarter changed the trajectory of the game for both teams.

With just over three-and-a-half minutes to play in before halftime, Waynesville junior forward Kiara Shoulders was issued a technical foul for talking back to an official.  Moments later, Shoulders was issued a second technical foul, forcing an ejection.

Lebanon went on a 13-0 run to close out the half, giving them a 27-19 lead at the break.  From that point on, Waynesville was never able to regain the lead.

“[The officials] were like, ‘We’ve been talking to [Shoulders] and we were trying to tell her that she needed to stop talking back to the officials,’” said Waynesville coach Brittany Matlock.  “I had her off to the side and was talking to her, and explaining what the one official had told me.  Then I send her down to the end of the bench and that’s when she got hit with the second one.  They said she needs to go.

“I can tell you that we wonder what she said,” Matlock continued.  “They said she said something, and we are all trying to figure out what it was.”

Waynesville did battle back in the second half.  They cut the lead to 37-32 with around three minutes to play in the game.  But once again, Lebanon went on a 4-0 run from that point and put the game on ice.

“When I looked at the clock, we were up by five with three minutes left,” Winfrey said.  “I told my teammates, I was like, ‘Let’s not make this our last three minutes together on the court.  Let’s finish strong.’”

Winfrey led all scorers with 13 points, but her impact reaches far beyond the scoring line.  She’s the undeniable leader of her squad, and came up with crucial blocks, rebounds, steals and assists to help will her team to a district championship.

“This means everything,” Winfrey said.  “We’ve been working together, we’ve been balling together, we’ve been on the court together since fourth grade, and we didn’t want this week to be our last practices together.  We didn’t want this to be our last game and it showed out there.”

Waynesville exceeded expectations this season, finishing with 19 wins after losing arguably the best female player to every come through the program in Kallie Bildner.

“I told them, ‘I know you want to keep going, but you can live with the fact that you definitely redeemed yourself from the first time we played them,’” said Matlock.  “I’m very proud of their efforts of adjusting to everything that was thrown at them tonight.”

As for Lebanon (23-5), they will square off with Rock Bridge (23-5) in the sectional round on Wednesday, March 8.

“This means everything to us,” Winfrey said.  “I’ve always wanted to win a district title.  I haven’t won a district title in any sport my whole high school career, so this means everything.”

Lebanon – 10 – 17 – 6 – 8 – 41

Waynesville – 9 – 10 – 7 – 6 – 32

Lebanon – Kelsey Winfrey 13, Jaiden Offutt 11, Faith Alwardt 8, Maddie O’Connor 6, Kamryn Mack 3

Waynesville – Rashawna Stone 11, Ashton Pilz 9, Kiara Shoulders 6, Nina Kizzee 6

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