The Good Hope varsity girls held on to win over Rogers 48-42 after a ferocious comeback attempt. In a tale of two halves Good Hopes’s fifteen point first half lead was dwindled to just three with a few minutes to play before Good Hope finally pulled away for good to advance to the Regional Finals.
Heather Tetro got hot early scoring 8 points in the opening quarter with Rudi Derrick adding 6 of her own in the period. The Lady Raider defense gave Rogers fits, not allowing a single shot attempt until almost three minutes into the game. Two late threes late in the quarter by Rogers cut a thirteen point lead to just seven before Tetro drained a three to extend the lead 18-11 after one.
The second quarter was all Good Hope has Heather Tetro stayed hot adding 7 more, including a 4pt play to wrap the quarter up. After holding Rogers to just 3 points in the quarter Good Hope held a 29-15 lead going into the half.
Coming out of the half Rogers switched to a press that you’d think gave Good Hope fits after looking at the scoreboard, but missed looks at the rim and missed free throws cracked a door open for Rogers that they took advantage of. Good Hope was outscored 10-5 in the period and give hope to Lady Pirates heading into the final frame with the score at 34-24.
The fourth quarter was a high scoring affair with Rogers knocking down threes and free throws as Good Hope’s lead got smaller and smaller. Bailey Tetro was able to get hot to keep the Lady Raiders ahead going into the finals few minutes. She scored 7 in the 4th that was much needed.
The biggest play of the game is one you won’t see in a stat sheet. With Good Hope breaking the press a pass up the court was heading out of bounds with the Lady Raiders up only 4. The turnover would give Rogers a chance to make it a one possession game and really apply pressure. That was until Derrick came running over, splitting Rogers’ defenders and tipped the ball to a teammate as she fell out of bounds. The save led to a four straight points by Good Hope, enough to eventually hold on for the 48-42 win.
Heather finished with 16 and Bailey with 12. Ivey Mattox totalled 11 with 9 boards, several which came in crunch time. Head Coach Justin Aby had this to say on the close win, “I’m proud of the girls for not panicking and handling the pressure. They kept their cool and made the plays we needed to to pull out the win.”
The Lady Raiders await the winner of Deshler and Hamilton, where No. 1 Deshler is expected to win. The showdown sets up for a huge Regional Final on Wednesday with No. 1 vs. No. 2.
