Freshman Long shoots Woodland girls basketball team into title game

Josie Long missed all four of her 3-point attempts in the first half.

The freshman followed up that by making the three biggest shots of her young career in the second half.

Long became "Ms. Big Shot" in the fourth quarter to help third-seed Woodland knock off second-seeded West County 38-30 in the semifinals of Class 3 District 3 girls basketball tournament.

Woodland trailed 24-21 two minutes into the fourth quarter, but Long refused to become rattled.

She buried a 3 from the corner to tie the game at 24-24 with 5 minutes, 40 forty seconds left.

The freshman wasn't finished.

Long buried another 3 a minute later, and a possession later she buried her third in a row to give Woodland a 30-24 advantage it wouldn't relinquish.

"I wasn't knocking them down in the first half, so I was hoping it would go in," Long said. "When it came off the fingers, I knew it was in. Those were pretty big shots. They made a major difference. I was proud to hit them."

The 3-pointers were the only three of the game for the Cardinals.

"That's huge," Woodland coach Gary Poyner said. "One thing I've told my girls all year is we have to look to score. I have confidence in every one of my kids to shoot the ball. I don't care if you come out and go 0 for 6 in the first half, you have to come out and look to score. That's what scorers do. Just because you miss your first couple doesn't mean you quit looking to shoot. She's got confidence in her shot, and I have confidence in her and all my girls that if we got that shot out there, we have to take it."

It was the lone offensive outburst for either team.

The teams traded turns being patient on the offensive end, working the ball around numerous times before settling for a shot.

The Bulldogs came out with a 10-6 lead after the opening quarter behind 5 for 6 shooting from the field.

The second quarter was sloppy for both.

West County shot just 2 of 10, while Woodland was 1 of 8 to give the Bulldogs a 15-11 lead at the half.

"They played good defense," Poyner said. "They made it hard for us to get the ball inside. We can score from the outside or score from the inside. They looked to flatten things out in both halves. In the first half, our outside shooters didn't look to shoot. We looked at times to force the ball in and their post players did a good job on us. ... With the way they play, they left our guards open and gave us the opportunity to score from the outside. I have complete confidence in our guards to shoot the ball, and in the first half, we didn't look to shoot. I don't know if it was a little bit of nerves or what."

The Cardinals did a solid job disrupting Katie Gettinger, West County's star player.

"We switched our defenses up," Poyner said. "We started out in a man, then played some zone, and then looked to pack it in a little bit. At halftime, I was very happy defensively. To give that bunch only 15 points, the Gettinger girl is a heck of ballplayer, but to hold them to 15, I was very happy."

The Cardinals finally took the lead with a minute to go in the third quarter when Keighlyn Lincoln beat the press and found Kathlyn Cooper inside for a basket and a foul. Cooper converted the free throw, and Woodland took a 21-19 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs regained the lead when Sidney Wells hit a 3 to start the fourth and stretched it to 24-21 after a Paige Forshee bucket.

That's when Long took over, and the Cardinals held West County scoreless for a five-minute stretch to take a commanding 36-24 lead.

"We really needed to lock it down," Long said. "We had to hold them."

Added Poyner: "I felt like if we could get the lead, no matter if it was one point, we were going to be in a good position because they're the type of team that likes to play with the lead. ... When you take them out of that rhythm and make them have to try and hurry up and rush to get a shot, they struggle from time to time. We were patient enough to weather the storm on the offensive end. Once we came out of it and were able to get the lead, that rattled them."

West County 10 5 4 11 -- 30

Woodland 6 5 10 17 -- 38

WEST COUNTY (30) -- Jordan Mull 6, Sidney Wells 3, Katie Gettinger 13, Paige Forshee 4, Lauren Callahan 4. FG 13, FT 2-5, F 12. (3-pointers: Gettinger, Wells. Fouled out: Forshee)

WOODLAND (38) -- Josie Long 21, Kathlyn Cooper 4, Ashley Acup 6, Keighlyn Lincoln 1, Kendra Pinkley 6. FG 11, FT 13-16, F 7. (3-pointers: Long 3. Fouled out: none)