When the Saints Come Marching In
Goessel Girls Basketball – Wichita Classical @ Goessel – February 13, 2024
With under 10 seconds left, down 3, Cheyenne Sawyer somehow got open at the top of the arc and drained her sixth trey of the night. You would have thought a certain regional team had just hit paydirt in the endzone in overtime in some important game. Goessel had put this one into overtime 43-43! As the team celebrated an OT victory, the locker room might as well have been a Super Bowl celebration. Coach Hoopes tweeted that “this type of finish makes everything we work for worthwhile!” Goessel notched a big time win 49-46 against 2A Classical, giving good momentum to the coming sub-state.
There were two lead changes early in this one, with the Classical Lady Saints’s two ball-handlers pushing hard into the paint. At 6:47 Cheyenne knotted it at three with a smooth as silk delivery, then put up another at 5:30 to lead 6-5, but the Saints’ defense was too much for the Blue and the quarter ended 6-14. At 7:00 in the 2nd, Greta Scholle set and delivered from 10 ft., then Abbigail Funk took advantage of a steal and finish off the turnover, letting one fly at 5:50 from beyond the spot where Olivia’s cat lives 11-16, then Braylyn Hoopes floated another 10 footer to close the gap to 13-16. Cheyenne was credited with an awesome block, then let loose with a trey so powerful it conjured up every aspect of the Super Bowl half time show c/o of the Goessel band. 16-18. Again, the Saints shut down the Blue for the remainder of the half and this one closed at 18-29, redeemed only by a very nice Logan Bryant finish as time expired. The biggest lead of the night for the Saints was 13 (16-29).
Goessel began to wind up in the 3rd, with tenacious defense, coach “support” that must have left hoarseness in the house, a steal and lay in from Aimee Funk, and yet another record-breaking long bomb from Sawyer at 5:04. Pressure D created opportunities and turnovers; the Saints also missed several key FT’s down the stretch. Hoopes hit another key 8 footer, then Scholle came alive from downtown, hitting from across the Elbe to go to 28-33. The 10-8 quarter ended at 28-37.
The fourth quarter tonight is every coach and player’s dream; if you were not in attendance, you missed a history making vibe. At 7:46, Cheyenne bombed one in, then Hoopes punched in a requisite short jumper, and at 2:36, with both teams tiring, Scholle put the hammer down with a laser to pull within 34-39, followed by yet another at the top of the key a few moments later. 37-39. Goessel got several key offensive boards on hustle plays from Griffin and Bryant and the defense continued to plague the Saints ball-handlers with unforced as well as forced errors. Tie-ups and going after loose balls looked great tonight. At 4:10, Bryant got into the rhythm and stroked one with an arc so huge it caused the April eclipse to begin early. 40-41 It was back and forth with Classical going to the line several times in the bonus; fortunately, the Saints appeared tired and were hitting FT’s at a 1 for 2 clip. With time running out in regulation, Goessel called time with 17 seconds left, worked in and out, then found Cheyenne open at the top of the arc. She was not perfect from three point land tonight but the final shot of the quarter was and the Goessel faithful exploded as one as this one tied it at 43-43!
In overtime, Scholle snuck open underneath and the in-pass led to a classic lay-in to start, the third and final lead change of the night. At 2:38 the exchange student led a huge coast to coast run, was fouled and hit one of two to lead 46-43, Goessel’s largest lead of the night. At 2:12 the Saints got a traditional three point play underneath, but at 1:33 Scholle (now nearly on fire) shazzamed one in from across the parking lot to lead 49-46. Goessel was able to play catch for the rest of the game, interspersed with several timeouts and the Saints did not foul until seconds remained. The game ended 49-46, with Goessel winning the 15-6 4th quarter and 6-3 overtime period.
AD Lightner reported to Coach Hoopes that with the 12 made threes on the night, the school record for made threes had been broken. Congratulations on a huge shooting night!
Cheyenne Sawyer put up 6 treys tonight, at least one in each quarter of regulation. Greta Scholle scored 17, including 15 huge points in the 2nd half. Logan Bryant pitched in 5 huge points including one of the record breaking treys. Braylyn Hoopes had 4, Abbigail Funk put up one of the huge treys for 3 and Aimee Funk scored 2. Jaicee Griffin and Alece Lehrman contributed huge minutes. Congratulations Lady Bluebirds on a fantastically entertaining win!
-Karl Brubaker
