Panthers overpower Oran girls in final

ORAN, Mo. -- If the Oran Eagles shot like they did in the fourth quarter, they would have given Meadow Heights all it could handle.

Fortunately for the Panthers (19-8), their defense almost was scoring proof in the first three quarters.

Meadow Heights put on a defensive clinic on its way to a 53-22 victory against Oran in the Class 2 District 3 girls basketball championship game.

"We all pretty much played together [defensively]," Panthers sophomore Whitney Welker said. "We wanted to shut everyone down and get after it."

Oran was 6 of 10 from the field during the fourth quarter, including 3 of 3 from beyond the arc. The Eagles went 3 of 42 (7 percent) from the field in the first three quarters.

The Panthers were stifling from the start.

Meadow Heights scored the first 12 points of the game and held the Eagles scoreless for the first 7 minutes, 17 seconds.

Oran finally got on the scoreboard after a Cheyanne King basket with 43 seconds remaining in the first.

The Panthers led 12-4 after the first eight minutes.

"We really preached about having a quick start," Panthers coach Mitch Nanney said. "We had a game plan to hold King to 15 or less points and make someone else beat us. We blocked out, rebounded well and pushed the ball."

The Panthers held Oran to 18 percent (2 of 11) shooting in the first quarter.

Meadow Heights' offense soared in the second. The Panthers put together a solid shooting quarter -- 8 of 14 from the field -- but scored most of its points on easy baskets off turnovers.

The Panthers wasted little time breaking open the game.

Welker scored the first four points of the quarter and fellow sophomore Erin Bollmann added a deuce to stretch the lead to 18-4 early in the quarter.

Shelby Unger got Oran on the board in the second with a basket at the 5:09 mark and hit a free throw to make it 23-7 with a little more than four minutes to play in the quarter.

After the Unger free throw, Meadow Heights closed the quarter on a 10-0 run to take a commanding 33-7 halftime lead.

"I thought we handled the ball and defended well," Nanney said about the second quarter. "We had shots in the first that we could have made but didn't. We made those in the second and we looked up at the half and it was 33-7."

Oran coach Adam Friga cited a season-long problem with shooting as the Eagles' downfall.

"We competed," Friga said. "We couldn't score well all night. It's been that way all year. But the kids played hard. I thought they hit shots and rebounded well and we didn't."

The second half was worse for the Eagles.

Oran went 0 of 17 from the field and 0 of 4 from the charity stripe in the third as Meadow Heights outscored the Eagles 11-0 to put away the game.

"We wanted to come out and pressure the ball," Nanney said. "Keep the ball out of King's hands and come out and put it away."

"It was really important," Welker said of the third. "The coaches told us they were going to make a comeback and that we need to come out and bury them."

Friga only could watch as his Eagles seemed as if they were shooting with a lid on the basket.

"We are not a strong shooting team," Friga said. "Give credit to their defense, but we just didn't shoot well."

The Eagles found their stroke in the fourth, with Unger going 3 of 3 from downtown. But it was too little too late as the Panthers already had built an insurmountable lead.

Welker led the Panthers with 15 points. Welker, who missed the majority of the season recovering from a knee injury, was extremely effective in the post.

"I had to be strong," she said. "Get rebounds and finish going back up."

Nanney is pleased to have her back.

"She did what we thought she could do," Nanney said. "She forced early on, but with her back, it helps us. The kids around her, without her, really stepped up. They filled in well with the scoring and the rebounding. When she came back we were looking for her to complement the team and play within and she's done that."

Jillian Mills added 12 for the Panthers.

Oran was led by Unger with 14 points and finished its season at 10-13.

Oran 4 3 0 15 -- 22

Meadow Hts 12 21 11 9 -- 53

ORAN (22) -- Claire Seyer 2, Shelby Unger 14, Taylor Irwin 2, Cheyanne King 4. FG 9, FT 1-8, F 16. (3-pointers: Unger 3. Fouled out: none.)

MEADOW HEIGHTS (53) -- Hattie Cook 7, Erin Bollmann 5, Gina Cureton 1, Heather Dietiker 6, Whitney Welker 15, Taylor Cureton 7, Jillian Mills 12. FG 19, FT 13-19, F 17. (3-pointers: Cook, Dietiker. Fouled out: none.)