Cold-shooting Bobcats fall to Leeton in Class 1 semifinals

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A combination of atrocious shooting and a bigger opponent equaled a crushing defeat for the Delta girls basketball team in a Class 1 semifinal Thursday, as Leeton routed the Bobcats 48-21 at Mizzou Arena.

Delta opened the game shooting 2-for-17 -- 11.8 percent -- in the opening half and shot 17.9 percent for the game. The Bobcats did not score more than eight points in a quarter.

"I thought Leeton played well," Delta coach Randy White said. "They shot the ball well. They were tough on the boards. That was the first time we've been outrebounded. We were a little concerned with their size, but we didn't anticipate that it would be that much of a factor."

The Bobcats (27-2) will play Silex (23-7) at 9 a.m. Saturday in the third-place game. Leeton (30-1) will face DeKalb (29-2) at 12:10 p.m. Saturday in the championship game.

Leeton outrebounded the Bobcats 38-24 in the game, and had eight offensive rebounds in the opening half. Those second-chance points helped the Bulldogs jump out to a 14-5 first-quarter lead.

The game was basically decided in the second quarter, as Leeton's smothering defense held Delta without a field goal. The front court of 6-foot-2 center Katie Drendel, 6-1 forward Tia LaFavor and 5-10 forward Laura Stockton made it difficult for the Bobcats to get any easy shots.

"I thought we did a great job on defense, which you have to do," Leeton coach Arnie Drendel said. "We held them to 7-for-39. We work hard enough at it in practice."

The Bobcats rolled their first 28 games as the highest scoring team in Southeast Missouri, averaging 62.5 points per game and never scoring fewer than 40 in a contest.

Delta's leading scorer Shea Smith, who averages 16.8 points per game, was outmuscled when she tried to get to the basket. LaFavor and Drendel each had a pair of blocks, and when they were not blocking shots they were altering them.

"The two big girls play defense pretty good," Arnie Drendel said. "Katie averages about five blocks and 9.6 rebounds, and Tia averages about a block and 9.8 rebounds. In between, that's 20 rebounds and about seven blocks."

After handling Chadwick's pair of 6-footers in the quarterfinals, Delta was unable to overcome Leeton's size advantage Thursday.

"They probably had a half-dozen blocks and quite a few deflections," White said. "Evidently it was more of a factor than we anticipated it to be."

Smith managed just seven points in the game, five coming in the first quarter. Kaci Menz added seven points for Delta.

With the smaller, quicker lineup, Delta hoped to be able to push the ball up the court and tire Leeton's forwards. But the Bobcats never were able to get into their offense.

"For whatever reason, we didn't execute our game plan," White said

Laura Stockton and Haley Stockton had 13 points apiece for the Bulldogs. LaFavor had nine points and eight rebounds.

Leeton will play for its first state title after finishing fourth last season.

"I think last year we came up here all 'goody, goody we're at state,'" Arnie Drendel said. "This year, it was all business. I told these girls when they were in seventh and eighth grade, when you're juniors and seniors you have a shot."

Delta's players were making their final four debut. The Bobcats, who last made the final four in 2003, do not have a senior on their roster.

LEETON 48, DELTA 21

Leeton 14 14 13 7 -- 48

Delta 5 2 6 8 -- 21

LEETON (48) -- Laura Stockton 13, Haley Stockton 13, Tia LaFavor 9, Katie Drendel 7, Ashley Jenkins 4, Casey Moulder 2. FG 17, FT 9, F 12 (3-pointers: H. Stockton 3, L. Stockton 2. Fouled out: none)

DELTA (21) -- Shea Smith 7, Ashley Deprow 2, Kaci Menz 7, Sarah Keys 4, Kayla Seabaugh 1. FG 7, FT 6, F 18 (3-pointers: K. Menz 1. Fouled out: Deprow)