Defense reigns as St. Elizabeth girls fall to Meadville in quarterfinals

MOBERLY -- The St. Elizabeth Lady Hornets did their job defensively Saturday afternoon, holding the undefeated Meadville Lady Eagles to a season low in scoring.
Problem is, Meadville also did its job defensively, holding St. Elizabeth to a season low in scoring.
In a defensive battle, Meadville proved worthy of the state's No. 1 ranking, holding St. Elizabeth to just eight made baskets in a 40-23 victory in the Class 1 quarterfinals at Moberly Area Community College's Fitzsimmons-John Arena.
'A lot of our shots were rushed because we were feeling the pressure in the full court,' St. Elizabeth coach Quentin Voss said. 'We just couldn't get anything going.'
Meadville, which was averaging 73.3 points per game prior to the quarterfinal contest, was held to 27 percent shooting (10-of-37).
'To hold that team to just that many points is pretty tough to do,' Voss said. 'They have some really, really good players.'
The Lady Hornets whose previous season low in scoring was 35 points, made just 19.5 percent (8-of-41) of their shot attempts and committed 22 turnovers.
'We had a lot of good looks,' Voss said. 'If we make a couple early and tighten it up, maybe it's different at the end.'

At the 5:47 mark in the first quarter, Addie Oligschlaeger made two free throws to give the Lady Hornets a 2-0 lead. St. Elizabeth did not score again until the 221 mark of quarter two. Wobbe split the lane and scored a layup, making the score 19-9. Oligschlaeger scored the basket on a Dani Heckemeyer pass, cutting the Meadville lead down to 19-13 at the end of the second quarter. Voss stated that Meadville has done this a few times. "(In sectionals), North Shelby used a 1-3-1 defense and they were fine. They were up. Voss stated, "You're trying in people who haven’t played much and they’re trying to play defense against the best players that we've faced all season." Voss stated that he thought perhaps we had turned the corner. It's hard to come back against a team such as that. Madison Carvajal was the Meadville's leading scorer with 14 points. She shot 8-of-11 at the line. Oligschlaeger was the Lady Hornets' leading scorer with eight points and ten rebounds. Voss stated that the senior class went from 8-16 to 11-9 in their freshman year and then went 23-4 last year and won conference for first time in 35 year's. Voss spoke of Meadville, saying that he told the girls they could be the top team in the state. "Who knows? They may beat other teams by more than they beat them," Voss said of Meadville.