WAVERLY – When you face a team with two big guns, it’s hard to have a shootout when your two big guns stay holstered.

Wednesday, March 01, 2000

WAVERLY – When you face a team with two big guns, it’s hard to have a shootout when your two big guns stay holstered.

Kristal Tharp and Rae Lynn Olaker, the two top guns for Zane Trace, combined for 55 points as Lady Pioneers beat the Chesapeake Lady Panthers 76-60 Tuesday in the Division III Southeast district semifinals.

Chesapeake two leading scorers, Kati Fuller and Erin Sutphin, did combine for 41 points, but their playing time was limited by foul trouble.

Fuller, who had 21 points and eight rebounds, sat out part of the first half as she picked up three fouls. Sutphin had 20 points before fouling out with 2:10 left in the third quarter.

But the biggest problem Chesapeake faced was Tharp who hit 16 of 27 floor shots on her way to scoring 37 points. Olaker had 28 points including 12 of 18 at the foul line.

Zane Trace (19-3) also shot well from the field, making 27 of 59 shots for 45.8 percent, and converted 22 of 35 from the line for 62.9 percent.

Chesapeake was 27 of 60 from the floor for 45 percent but just 11 of 31 the first half for 35.5 percent. The Lady Panthers were 3 of 7 from the line.

"Tharp is a great player. She’s got to be one of the best in the state in Division III," Panthers coach Lynn Sheets said. "We couldn’t buy anything early, and we couldn’t run our offense because they were pressing us, so we missed a lot of shots and then we got excited. They got us a little out of control.

"They hit their layups and we didn’t and they made their free throws. A 19-point difference at the foul line was a factor."

Thanks to a 3-pointer by Kim Frye and Sutphin’s layup Chesapeake took a 9-3 lead midway through the first quarter.

Zane Trace scored six straight points to tie the game before Lindsey Stiltner’s layup put the Panthers ahead. Tharp’s basket inside with 15 seconds left tied the game at 11-11.

Sutphin’s trifecta sent Chesapeake up 14-11 to open the second quarter, but a 9-0 run sent Zane Trace ahead for good at 20-14.

The Pioneers used a 3-point play by Olaker to push the lead to 30-22, but Sutphin followed up her own missed shot with 12 seconds left and it was 30-24 at the half.

The game stayed close the third quarter as Fuller – scoreless the first half – scored 10 points in the quarter. A 3-pointer by Sutphin and a layup by Fuller at the 2:30 mark cut the deficit to 41-39. But Zane Trace used a 10-0 run to close the quarter and the lead was 51-39.

"We weren’t quite as good on defense as we were against South Webster (in the sectional final)," said Sheets. "But the big thing I was pleased with is the girls didn’t quit."

With Sutphin on the sidelines, Fuller took over the bulk of the scoring with 11 points in the quarter. But Tharp answered with 10 of her 22 second half points to negate Fuller’s effort.

Two free throws by Fuller with 6:11 left got Chesapeake within 53-46, but that was as close as the Lady Panthers would get the rest of the way.

Chesapeake finished 14-9 and won the first sectional in its history.

"We had a great run. People didn’t expect us to get here. We’ve made some progress. We stepped forward from last year and that’s all you can ask for is to improve," said Sheets.

Chesapeake 11 13 15 21 – 60

Zane Trace 11 19 21 25 – 76

CHESAPEAKE (14-9): Lindsey Stiltner 2-4 (0-0) 0-0 4, Erin Sutphin 9-15 (2-5) 0-0 20, Kati Fuller 9-20 (0-0) 3-5 21, Jessica Hall 3-4 (0-0) 0-0 6, Kim Frye 1-8 (1-7) 0-0 3, Michelle Elkins 0-3 (0-0) 0-0 0, Michelle Christian 2-3 (0-0) 0-0 4, Shawna Gore 0-1 (0-0) 0-2 0, Lindsey Swann 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Tiffany Porter 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Sarah Harris 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 2. Totals: 27-60 (3-12) 3-7 60. Fouls: 29. Fouled out: Sutphin, Stiltner, Fuller, Frye. Rebounds: 30 (Fuller 8, Frye 7, Christian 4). Assists: 8 (Stiltner 4, Fuller 2, Christian 2). Steals: 7 (Sutphin 3, Frye 2). Turnovers: 18.

ZANE TRACE (19-3): Stacey Harrington 1-4 (0-1) 1-2 3, Britany Greenwait 2-4 (0-0) 2-6 6, Kristal Tharp 16-27 (0-1) 5-7 37, Rae Lynn Olaker 8-14 (0-1) 12-18 28, Angie Congrove 0-1 (0-0) 2-2 2, Megan Overly 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Rachel Finley 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Tiffany Kelley 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, JoAnna Renault 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Jessica Thornton 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 27-59 (0-3) 22-35 76. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 29 (Tharp 8, Olaker 6, Greenwait 6, Congrove 5). Assists: 5 (Tharp 3). Steals: 11 (Harrington 3, Greenwait 2, Tharp 2). Turnovers: 14.