Lady Pintos ground Lady Falcons in regular season finale

Sophomore guard Hailey Rademan scores a fast break basket for the Lady Pintos in the third quarter in their 47-41 win at Blair Oaks on Thursday night. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Sophomore guard Hailey Rademan scores a fast break basket for the Lady Pintos in the third quarter in their 47-41 win at Blair Oaks on Thursday night. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)

California Lady Pintos basketball played their final game of the regular season on Thursday night in Wardsville against the Blair Oaks Lady Falcons. The game went back and forth for four quarters, but the Lady Pintos grabbed a slim lead in the final minutes and sealed a 47-41 over their arch rival with the help of their defense and free throws.

The Lady Falcons took an early 4-0 lead in the first quarter after they hit two of their first three shots. While the Lady Pintos missed their first seven shots until senior forward Lauren Friedrich ended the streak with a layup off the glass. With both teams struggling for baskets, they game evolved into a defensive showdown with both teams fighting tooth and nail for control. California managed to grab a 9-7 lead after the first quarter with the help of their two freshman, Addie Carr and Tayte Higgins.

California started the second quarter with senior guard Alayna Butts hitting a wide open three pointer on Califonria's first possession. The two teams once again went back and forth for the rest of the first half. California grabbed a 20-14 lead going into the locker room.

Blair Oaks came out of the locker room picking up their defensive intensity and they soon California on the ropes. Coming back from a six-point deficit two times, the Lady Falcons tied the game with the help of its freshman forward Belle Boessen and senior center Autumn Bax. In addition, California players found themselves in foul trouble for most of the third quarter, with one foul away from being in the penalty.

California managed to get a four-point lead going into the fourth quarter, making enough plays to maintain it going into the final three minutes of regulation. California senior forward Lauren Friedrich, who scored a career-high 37 points and set a school record with 11 three-pointers on Feb. 13 against Osage, had been held in check by Blair Oaks with only seven points through three and a half quarters. However, Friedrich knocked down a three-pointer from the right side to put California ahead by seven points. The Lady Pintos came up with stops on Blair Oaks' next two possessions and was able to turn the game into a free throw shooting game with under a minute to play. Although California missed four free throws in the last minute, the Lady Pintos held off the Lady Falcons and won the game 47-41 to close out the regular season.

The Lady Pintos shot 30 percent from the field, 17 percent from three-point range and 64 percent from the free throw line. Lauren Friedrich was again led the Lady Pintos with 15 points, five rebounds, three blocks and a steal. Hailey Rademan had eight points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal. Addie Carr had six points, four rebounds and four blocks off the bench. Kierstyn Lawson and Isabelle Rohrbach each had seven points.

The Lady Falcons shot 26 percent from the field, 16 percent from three-point range and 71 percent from the free throw line. Belle Boessen had 19 points, 11 rebounds and a block. Autumn Bax added 12 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

Lady Pintos head coach Bobby Sangster was happy to get the victory against the Lady Falcons going into the playoffs. In large part because the game was full of adversity and his team was able to win by battling through it, especially in the second half.

"I was happy with our girls effort tonight when we had to battle through adversity. Blair Oaks did a nice job a making us play under pressure and the girls responded well to it. That's what championship team do. They don't back down to adversity. They fight through it and keep playing no matter what," Sangster said. "We were getting a lot of good looks and shots off, we just were knocking them down and sometimes that happens. Tonight was a good win for us and it's a good way to go into districts. Now we've got to wait two weeks to play again. It's a situation I've never been in as a coach before, so we'll see what happens."

The Lady Pintos (21-5) will host the Class 4 District 9 Tournament as the #2 seed and will play either Boonville or Knob Noster on Mar. 2 at 7:30 p.m.

  photo  Freshman center Addie Carr (left) fights with Blair Oaks center Autumn Bax for a rebound on Thursday night. Carr scored six points, pulled down four rebounds, and blocked four shots in the game. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
 
 
  photo  Sophomore guard Kierstyn Lawson had seven points in the second half in California six-point victory over the Blair Oaks Lady Falcons. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
 
 
  photo  Junior guard Isabelle Rohrbach knocks down two free throws for the Lady Pintos. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
 
 
  photo  Lady Pintos Bobby Sangster talks to his team as they take a four-point lead into the second quarter. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)