March 16, 2012 at 9:20 a.m.
Eagles go the distance against Black Hawk
True to form, Slaney wanted the basketball in her hands at the end of the game and her five of six free throws in the last 36 seconds iced the 43-40 win over the Lady Warriors, sending the Golden Eagles to the sectional final game. Slaney had 16 points, six rebounds and several deflections when she was at the top of Barneveld's 1-3-1 zone. She also had four fouls but avoided picking up her fifth and stayed the course.
True to form for the Golden Eagles, Slaney was not the only clutch performer.
Junior point guard Madi Laube used her length and smoothness to help key the defense and also contributed 12 points.
Sophomore guard Hailey Kleppe nailed a clutch three pointer in the third quarter much like the one she made against the Black Hawks when the Eagles took them down at Barneveld. She broke a 21-21 tie with her only basket of the night but after she gave the Eagles a 24-21 lead they held the lead the rest of the game.
Senior Hailey Cannoy quieted the sold out gym when she followed a basket by Black Hawk sophomore Jen Wellnitz who opened the final frame with a three pointer. Wellnitz's basket trimmed the Barneveld lead to two at 30-28 before Cannoy sent the score to 33-28.
Black Hawk got within one at 33-32 with 5:22 left in the game on a pair of Wellnitz free throws. But Cannoy stole the basketball and nailed Slaney with a pass that she put in the hole to make it 35-32 with 4:26 left.
Laube had a basket and later a free throw before the last five points came from Slaney who had the ball in her hands in the final minute.
"I wanted them to give it to me," Slaney said about the basketball. "I knew they would have to foul us."
"All the free throws we've practiced paid off," she said. "I guess you just got to believe."
Beating Black Hawk has been a struggle for the Eagles, as well as most teams, the past few years. But, Slaney hopes the win has gotten Barneveld past all that.
"It feels good to be a freshman and beat Black Hawk," she said. "The nice thing is that I have three more years to play with these girls."
"And that's just amazing."
The Black Hawks got their two six footers involved early and, after Barneveld took a 5-2 lead on a Slaney lay-up and a three pointer by Heidi Chapman, the Lady Warriors went on a 10-0 run to close the first frame at 12-5. The two Black Hawk 6-0 footers, Kate Quinn and Kayla Meier, attacked the low blocks and combined for eight of the points--four each--during the run and the 10th points came on a lob that Wellnitz chased down and stuffed through the net.
Barneveld coach Jim Myers knew is was going to be a tough night if the Eagles couldn't stop the inside game so he made that the focus the second half. Quinn finished the game with 11 points and Meier nine.
"We cut off the middle the second half and that was the big difference defensively," Myers said. "It is hard to knock off a champion and I am proud of the girls. It has been amazing to win as many as we have this year and it has been because of their hard work."
The Eagles also had to slow down Wellnitz, a prolific scorer for the Lady Warriors. They held her to 12 points.
"We knew she would want to take over the game so we had to get her slowed down," Myers said. "It was key for our kids to do that. In the end, we were able to execute and had a few nice plays down the stretch."
Barneveld shot 42% on 16 of 36 shots while the Lady Warriors made 12 of 25 for 46%. Black Hawk had the rebound edge, 28-18.
Shelby Meyer had three steals to key a defense that forced 14 Black Hawk turnovers. She also had a big play midway through the third quarter when she juked Wellnitz and drove around her for a lay-up to add to the Eagles lead.
The Eagles had nine steals.
The two teams shared the Six Rivers East championship this season and split in regular season action.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
BH 12 5 9 14 40
B 5 10 15 13 43
BOX SCORE
BLACK HAWK 40: (fg-ft-tp)
Powers 0-0-0, Flanagan 0-0-0, Schiferl 0-0-0, Wellnitz 3-6-12, Shager 2-2-8, Quinn 3-5-11, Meier 4-1-9, Neuenschwander 0-0-0 Totals 12-14/20-40 Fouls-19
BARNEVELD 43: Sporle 0-0-0, Kleppe 1-0-3, Chapman 2-0-5, Laube 5-1-12, Owens 0-0-0, Meyer 1-0-2, Evans 0-0-0, Cannoy 2-0-5, Slaney 5-6-16 Totals 16-7/15-43 Fouls-19
3 point goals:
BH-Shager 2
B-Kleppe 1, Chapman 1, Laube 1, Cannoy 1
