Norwood Lady Pirates fall in Class 2 state semifinals to Skyline

Entering their opening contest of this year’s Class 2 state semifinals against defending state champion Skyline, Norwood head coach Wayne Jessen knew his team needed to take care of the ball if they were going to have a chance to upset the Lady Tigers.
His biggest fear became a reality early on as the Lady Pirates’ had seven first quarter turnovers and trailed 10-0 before Autumn Gunter’s 3-pointer with 2:05 left in the opening frame.
Though Norwood did get the lead down to five one time and six with 1:41 left in the contest, the Lady Pirates were unable overcome their sluggish start in a 42-33 loss.
“I thought our effort was good, but (we) turned the ball over too much early…,” Coach Jessen said about his team that defensively held Skyline to their second lowest number of points this season. “If we limit those, it could have given us a better chance.”
Against Skyline, Norwood missed their first six shots from the field before Gunter’s 3-pointer broke up a 10-0 run. She added a second 3-pointer with 24 seconds left in the quarter as Norwood trailed 16-6.
Skyline opened the second quarter with two quick buckets to push their lead to 14.
Kalie Chadwell came off the bench and scored six of her team’s 10 points before halftime as Norwood cut the lead down to 23-16 at halftime.
Addy Gray opened the third quarter with a score to cut the lead to just five points.
Unfortunately, Skyline had a 3-point play to stop the momentum just 30 seconds later.
The Lady Tigers put together a 12-2 run with the help of seven Norwood turnovers. The Lady Pirates would turn the ball over nine total times in the frame.
Norwood opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run to get the lead down to seven.
Just before the run ended, Skyline’s Ashlen Garrett went out with an injury, but Norwood could not quite take advantage of her absence.
“I should have switch to man (defense) when 22 went out,” Coach Jessen noted.
Norwood was then forced to foul as a couple of turnovers stalled any Lady Pirates’ momentum.
Though the Lady Tigers made just 7-of-18 free throws in the fourth quarter, most of the ones that went in happened near the end of regulation to help them stay in front.
After the 3-point shot has helped the Lady Pirates in both the sectional and quarterfinal rounds, they made just 2-of-10 in the match-up with Skyline.
“They close out real well,” Coach Jessen noted. “It is one of the staples of their defense.”
In the loss, Chadwell led the Lady Pirates with 12 points, six rebounds, two steals and one assist. Gentry Davault tallied seven points, nine rebounds, four assists, four blocks and three steals; Gunter had six points, four rebounds and one assist; Quinncy Vestal had six points, six rebounds and one assist; Gray tallied four points wo rebounds, one assist and one steal; Jayden Chambers added two points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal; and Kendall Drake scored two points.
For the third year in a row, the Lady Pirates will take on Tipton in the Final Four. The Lady Cardinals beat them in the same game a year ago, 62-35. In the first match-up, Norwood fell to Tipton, 55-30.
Tipton (26-5) fell in their state semifinals contest with St. Vincent, 56-50.