Woodland captures Lady Devils Invitational

The top-seeded Cardinals defeated Oran 44-38 in the final

By SCOTT ROSCOVIUS

Southeast Missourian

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Missing one starter and plagued by early foul trouble, Woodland girls basketball coach Robert Stein knew the only way his squad could hang with the high-flying Oran Eagles in the finals of the Lady Devils Invitational was to slow the pace and win with physical play.

Which is exactly what happened.

The top-seeded Cardinals, behind a game-high 18 points from Josie Long, held off No. 2 Oran 44-38 on Saturday to win the tournament for the first time in school history. Woodland lost to host Chaffee in last year's final.

"Our depth really had to come through," said Stein after his squad improved to 6-0. "Our game, generally, is much close to their game. We try to get out and be aggressive and try to run up and down the floor, but we got into early foul trouble. ... We had to really adjust like we did against East Prairie [Friday night] and try to slow the game down, be selective and play smart basketball."

The biggest lead for either team was four points throughout the first three periods, which ended with the Cardinals clinging to a 28-26 advantage. Woodland built it to 34-26 with a 6-0 run over the first 3 minutes, 25 seconds of the final quarter, a stretch in which the Eagles (3-1) missed three shots from the field and six consecutive free throws.

Woodland's Taylor Toombs, right, defends Oran's Ashlyn McIntosh during the third quarter of the championship game at the Lady Devils Invitational on Saturday in Chaffee, Mo. Woodland won 44-38. (Fred Lynch)

"We were still getting after it defensively and stopping them," Oran coach Ethan Evans said. "We had a couple go in and out. We just couldn't get anything to fall right there at that point in the game."

Oran's Taylor Nenninger stopped the bleeding with a conventional three-point play, but Woodland's Whitney Lincoln and Long each made two free throws to push the lead to 38-27 with 3:29 remaining.

"[We] needed to start knocking down shots," said Nenninger, who had 10 points for the Eagles. "I had to pass it to the right people and get them good shots because mine weren't falling."

How bad did it get for Oran? Senior guard Chrissy Sauceda, who had six 3-pointers in Oran's first-round win over Scott City, missed all six shots she took from behind the arc. The two she did make were waived off by the officials because of violations.

Whereas Oran couldn't buy a free throw, Woodland could hardly miss. The Cardinals were 8 of 10 from the line in the final period.

"We knew they were going to be quick," Long said. "So we knew we had to watch the fast breaks and stay on our toes and not foul."

With their fast break offense shut down, the Eagles were forced to look for shots from their motion offense. Oran was 5 of 15 from the floor in the final period after suffering through a 1-of-9 performance in the third quarter, staying in the game on the strength of its defensive effort.

"We want to play a fast-paced game, and Woodland's defense really kept us from doing that," Evans said. "But I thought our defensive effort was the best that I've seen this year. ... As far as making them take tough shots, I thought we did real good."

Stein liked what he saw from his players on both ends of the floor, being patient on offense while forcing the Eagles to play a slow-down game.

"You've just got to be mentally tough," he said. "You've got to really rely on the fundamentals you work on every day in practice. We're senior-laden; we've got a bunch of seniors on our team. ... To be honest, I've been blessed with great kids, and that makes it a lot easier."

Oran 11 9 6 12 -- 38

Woodland 10 8 10 16 -- 44

ORAN (38) -- Addie Kielhofner 6, Ashlyn McIntosh 3, Taylor Nenninger 10, Allie Cummins 12, Tatum May 4, Chrissy Sauceda 3. FG: 13. FT: 12-22. Total fouls: 19. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: Kielhofner.)

WOODLAND (44) -- Whitney Lincoln 8, Josie Long 18, Taylor Toombs 1, Rachel Poole 9, Shelby Sawyer 4, Audrey Wilkinson 2, Lindsey Craft 2. FG: 14. FT: 16-21. Total fouls: 20. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: Sawyer.)