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November 14, 2009

Seibert’s decisive points help South girls basketball take tournament title

By Andy Amey

The two girls high school basketball teams Saturday night at West Vigo had plenty in common, including lots of recent success and a history of meeting to decide the championship of the HI-99/Terre Haute Savings Bank Classic.

They also came into this year’s tournament with plenty to prove — and each with a leader to help them prove it.

Both showed quite a bit, and in the end it was Owen Valley point guard Sam Cooper taking home the MVP trophy after Terre Haute South point guard Haley Seibert scored the decisive points in the Braves’ 43-40 win.

It was the fifth straight time the Braves had beaten Owen Valley in this tournament, including three of the last four championship games and a first-round game last year that may have decided the championship too.

But this one was by far the closest, and when Cooper spun inside for a driving layup with 2:11 left in the game the score was 40-40.

Owen Valley failed to convert a steal by Mack Evans into the go-ahead points, however, and South basically had the ball the rest of the game. With Seibert running the show in the Braves’ spread offense, the Braves bled more than a minute off the clock before Seibert penetrated, threw up a runner over her shoulder and banked it home while drawing a foul. She missed the free throw, but teammate Hannah Lee grabbed the rebound and the Braves held the ball again until Seibert added another free throw with 10 seconds left.

It was a frustrating second half for a Patriot team used to operating at a brisker tempo, and it showed. After leading most of the second quarter, Owen Valley scored just four points in the third quarter while having twice as many turnovers as field goal attempts.

“The last minute of the second quarter and the whole third quarter we were just really bad,” said coach Steve Goddard of the Patriots. “Fatigue, and we lost our focus completely. We made some really poor passing decisions.”

Not only did the Braves control the tempo, but they moved 5-foot-10 freshman guard Tasia Brewer to the top of a trapping zone defense, keeping Owen Valley’s smallish guards from reversing the ball comfortably and making entries to post player Kaitlin Sweatman problematic as well.

Thus South went on a 16-4 run after trailing 26-22 late in the second quarter. Lee hit three straight baskets early in the third quarter, erasing Owen Valley’s 28-25 lead, and Brewer added a 3-pointer and Seibert two baskets as the Braves led 38-30 at the third stop.

The Patriots were able to fight back into a tie thanks to a 3-pointer by Cooper and three points, two steals and an assist by Sweatman. But they never got back on top.

“Defensively there was not too much to complain about,” Goddard said. “Forty-three points [allowed], and we brought ourselves back, which shows what kind of competitors we are.”

“That’s a great team right there,” South coach Dave Cassell said of the Patriots. “Talk about a seasoned team … they have a great tradition.

“But [the Braves] deserve to win because of their hard work,” Cassell added. “I don’t know another outfit that’s worked harder the last eight months. When you ask them to dig down, they know what dig down is.”

The Braves had to start digging late in the second quarter. After taking a 13-9 lead late in the first period, South was outscored 14-3 as Sweatman and Cooper — both starters on last year’s Class 3A state runner-up team — led the way.

Brewer and Seibert hit back-to-back treys for South to cut the Patriot lead to 23-22, but Alissa Heaslet had a basket and Cooper a free throw before the Braves began their own decisive spurt.

“We got our pick-and-roll going a little,” Cassell said. “Every kid out there made a timely pass or had a timely blockout, and our defense was timely when it had to be.

“And once we get a lead and can spread the floor and Haley can wiggle, a lot of good things happen.”

“I’m the captain, so I have to call all the shots now,” Seibert, who had a game-high 18 points, explained afterward. “I can’t worry about just myself anymore … and I have the ball at the end of the game.”

The Braves experienced some growth in the tournament said Seibert, the only returning regular from an 18-2 team last year.

“This opened our eyes a little bit,” she said. “We see now that every game we have to go out and play really hard.”

“We definitely have a lot of building to do, but we’re excited to see where we’ll end up,” said Lee, who joined Seibert on the all-tournament team after getting eight points and eight rebounds. “We’re younger, but that just means we can stay together longer and get that much better.”

Cooper, who had 12 points, and Sweatman, who earned all-tourney honors after a 17-point effort, are the only returning starters for the Patriots.

“It’s a little different [losing three starters] and we have to adjust,” Cooper said. “As point guard, it’s my job to take everything in my hands … but I think we’re just going to improve [the rest of the way]. That’s all we can do.”

“It’s different roles for a lot of girls, and we’re still learning,” Goddard concluded. “We’re glad we got to experience a championship game here against a really good team.”



Terre Haute South 43

Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp

Bailey 0-3 0-0 0-0 2 0 1 0

Bell 0-7 0-6 2-2 1 1 4 2

H.Lee 4-8 0-0 0-0 8 1 3 8

Seibert 7-12 2-4 2-5 6 4 2 18

Metheny 1-5 1-3 0-0 5 0 0 3

Ennen 2-6 2-6 0-0 3 2 1 6

Brewer 2-6 2-4 0-0 1 1 2 6

Totals 16-47 7-23 4-7 *32 9 13 43

Owen Valley 40

Player fg 3pt ft r s pf tp

Sweatman 5-13 0-1 7-11 7 4 4 17

Kinnick 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 2

Owens 0-2 0-0 0-0 5 1 3 0

Evans 2-3 1-2 0-0 1 2 1 5

Cooper 5-11 1-4 1-2 6 4 2 12

Matsel 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Heaslet 2-3 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 4

Marsh 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Totals 15-35 2-7 8-13 *27 11 13 40

Terre Haute South 13 12 13 5 — 43

Owen Valley 13 13 4 10 — 40

FG Pct. — THS .340, OV .429. 3-pt FG Pct. — THS .304, OV .286. FT Pct. — THS .571, OV .615. (*) Includes team rebounds — THS 6, OV 5. Turnovers — THS 15, OV 18. Assists — THS 11 (Seibert 4), OV 10 (Cooper 5). Blocks — THS 2 (Lee 2), OV 1 (Sweatman). Technical foul — South bench.

Next — Terre Haute South (3-0) plays Tuesday at Bloomington South. Owen Valley (2-1) has a home game Wednesday against Mitchell.



All-tournament Team

Sponsored by Mann law firm

Sam Cooper, Owen Valley, Most Valuable Player

Nicole Anderson, Terre Haute North

Jocelyn Boyll, North Central

Hannah Lee, Terre Haute South

Haley Seibert, Terre Haute South

Kaitlin Sweatman, Owen Valley

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