Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

ROCKSPRINGS — There was no lid on the basket. It was more like an iron gate.

The St. Joseph Female Flyers suffered their worst shooting effort of the season in a 59-28 loss to the Meigs Eastern Lady Eagles on Saturday in the Division IV sectional finals.

St. Joseph missed its first 18 shots and made just 2-of-23 attempts.

The Female Flyers fell behind 19-1 in the first quarter with their only point a foul shot by Natalie Heaberlin with 35 seconds on the clock.

“We just could not make a shot in the first half. At the beginning of the game we were a little jittery, but then we got some decent looks but we couldn’t hit any shots,” said Female Flyers’ coach Nick Miller.

Lynsey Booker scored 10 points in her final game for St. Joseph. Megan Riley had 10 rebounds and Alyson Johnson six while Johnson had three assists and Morgan Turner and Riley two steals each.

Laura Pullins scored 23 points — 14 in the first half — to lead Eastern (16-6).

Booker scored four points in the second quarter but Eastern increased its lead to 30-8.

Ashlee Blankenship and Booker scored four points each in the third quarter as St. Joseph outscored Eastern 15-13. Pullins had six for the Eagles and it was 43-23.

The Female Flyers finished the season 10-14. Miller said the team accomplished several things this season that didn’t appear possible in what was a rebuilding year.

“We got to the 10-win mark and we won a tournament game and Booker got her 1,000th point, so we accomplished some good things this year,” said Miller.

St. Joseph 1 7 15 5 = 28

Eastern 19 11 13 16 = 59

SAINT JOSEPH (10-14): Ashley Bartram 1 0 1-2 3, Morgan Turner 0 0 4-6 4, Alyson Johnson 2 0 0-0 4, Megan Riley 1 0 0-0 2, Lynsey Booker 4 0 2-2 10, Cassie Leith 0 0 0-0 0, Ashlee Blankenship 2 0 0-0 4, Natalie Heaberlin 0 0 1-2 1, Grace Miller 0 0 0-0 0, Sarah Snowden 0 0 0-0 0, Lauren Bush 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10-55 8-12 28. 3-point goals: 0-13. Rebounds: 11-O, 20-D = 31 (Riley 10, Johnson 6). Assists: 5 (Johnson 3). Steals: 5 (Riley 2, Turner 2). Blocks: 4 (Riley 2). Turnovers: 21. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None.

REEDSVILLE EASTERN (16-6): Laura Pullins 5 2 7-7 23, Molly Kuhn 1 0 0-0 2, Becca Pullins 4 0 1-2 9, Jess Parker 3 1 0-0 9, Alyson Bailey 1 0 1-2 3, Kelsey Casto 1 0 1-2 3, Annalisa Boano 0 0 0-0 0, Elizabeth Collins 2 0 0-0 4, Hannah Bailey 2 0 0-0 4, Hannah Hill 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 23-57 10-13 59. 3-point goals: 3-14. Rebounds: 14-O, 19-D = 33 (L. Pullins 6, Casto 6). Assists: 15 (L. Pullins, A. Bailey, H. Bailey 3). Steals: 10 (A. Bailey, B. Pullins, Parker 2). Blocks: 5 (Collins 3, L. Pullins 2). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.