Lady Hawks fall just short in sectional finals

JACKSONVILLE - The Carrollton Lady Hawks throughout the playoffs always seemed to get a stop and a basket whenever they absolutely needed to. Last night against the Triopia Trojans they played no different. However, they ultimately ran out of timely clutch plays while Triopia did enough to hold off the Hawks in the end.

Carrollton was eliminated by the Trojans 47-39 in the Class 1A Jacksonville Routt Sectional Finals on Thursday night. Triopia claims their first sectional championship since 2001 and advances to play Lewistown on Monday at the Brown County Super-Sectional.

“They’re a good team, and they beat us,” Carrollton head coach Blaine Hartwick said. “We missed some shots and just made a couple mistakes. It happens. Our girls gave it everything they got, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

The execution of the game plan was there for Carrollton.

They were able to limit Triopia’s junior 6-foot-0 star center, Anna Burrus while the Trojans made one three-pointer for the whole game. After holding Lebanon’s Emily Reinneck to 11 points on Monday night, Marley Mullink was tasked of guarding Burrus and did so admirably. Mullink and the Hawks double-teamed and isolated Burrus and held her to ten points, which ties for her second-lowest total in a game all season. However, the difference was Burrus’ teammates finding ways to score by getting to the basket with patience and solid ball movement in the second half.

“Other kids stepped up,” Triopia head coach Kayla Whiteside said. “We know that any of our five can score on any given night, and I think tonight, that’s what impacted the end of the game.”

Chole Reynolds led Triopia with 14 points, Sara Evans added 11 while Maddie Gregory chipped in seven to collectively help carry the Trojans, especially in the second half.

In what would be the last high school game of her career, Hannah Krumwiede put in a performance that mimicked her time with the Hawks. She finished with a game-high 20 points and just about single-handily kept Carrollton alive offensively in the second half by draining four three-pointers.

“Getting this far was great, especially knowing that a lot of people doubted us,” Krumwiede said. “We were putting everything out on the court because we knew that we were the underdog against Routt. We had nothing to lose so we made sure all the pressure was on them and did exactly what we needed to do and we did that same thing tonight. I’m proud of every single girl on this team because I know nobody wanted it to end, and everybody tried their hardest.”

Sophomore forward Ava Uhles followed with seven points and freshman guard Callie McAdams added six. Mullink, who led the Hawks in points for the last two games, was held to four.

After a tense first four minutes, the Hawks burst out on a 7-0 run and led 11-4 before a free throw by Hannah Werries made it 11-5 heading into the first quarter.

With a packed crowd on hand by both schools, the atmosphere was loud and hard to beat. Whiteside indicated that might’ve been.

“I thought we came out a little bit rattled, to be honest,” Whiteside said. “Credit Carrollton. They came out on fire, pushed the ball on us. But I thought we settled down. Once we got in our press, I thought we got the momentum back in the second quarter.”

After Burrus scored her sixth point on a layup, Triopia presented Carrollton with a full-court press. At first, Carrollton wasn’t totally rattled as Uhles and Krumwiede restored their six-point lead with back-to-back baskets at 14-8, but the Trojans press would change the game in their favor.

Triopia forced the Hawks into committing 14 turnovers, and a hefty amount came as a result of the press. Baskets by Burrus, Gregory, and Reynolds, tied the game at 14 before another basket by Reynolds gave the Trojans their first lead of the game at 17-16. She would score nine of her 11 points in the second quarter.

While being an excellent scorer, Krumwiede is a reliable ball-handler and part of Triopia’s plan while pressing was to force someone other than her to beat their double-teams.

“We have three kids up front who are as quick as anybody,” Whiteside said. “We knew we could pressure them a little bit. Hannah Krumwiede is an awesome player, a phenomenal player. But we tried to keep the ball out of her hands and make other kids make decisions, and I thought we did a good job with that.”

Carrollton was aggressive of attacking the basket so they could score, but also get Burrus in foul trouble. With 1:46 left in the first half they accomplished that by forcing her to pick up her third foul. With her out, the Trojans offense was conservative, but Evans managed to drain Triopia’s only three-pointer of the night and then connected on a layup to give the Trojans a 26-25 halftime lead.

Trailing 31-28, Krumwiede sank back-to-back treys to give Carrollton a 34-31 lead, but it would evaporate, especially after Uhles, who did so much on the boards for the Hawks was saddled with her fourth foul and sat on the bench for the rest of the third quarter and early in the fourth. The Trojans would go on an 8-0 run, and Carrollton went cold until Krumwiede hit another triple to trim the lead to 36-34.

Krumwiede cut the deficit to 39-37 thanks to her fourth three-pointer of the game, but that would be the points the Hawks would score until under a minute to play. With under five minutes left, Reynolds converted a layup followed by a steal and another layup by Gregory to make it 43-37.

Carrollton started pressing and turned Triopia over four times, but could only score once on a steal and a layup by McAdams with under a minute to play. All the while the Trojans made 7-of-9 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter to help ice the game.

“We had a lot of hustle plays at the end. Effort plays that really helped us finish the game, but Reynolds and Maddie, they both made huge free throws down the stretch,” Whiteside said. “We don’t make those; it’s a different ballgame. But credit those two kids. Cool, calm and collected, and they handled it well.”

Carrollton’s senior class lacks quantity, but full of quality and then some. Mullink, Krumwiede, and Grace Cox who would’ve been a key contributor, but was sidelined all season due to an injury, end their careers on a high note when it’s all said and done. They’ve helped claim two straight regional championships and a 68-52 overall record. At the moment, Krumwiede and the rest are particularly proud of overcoming the odds of defeating No. 3-ranked Routt and harvest the memories of their post-season journey.

“Knowing that we made it this far we already proved a lot of people wrong and we made a lot of memories just coming this far. I wish that Grace could’ve been with us through all this and I know she wishes it too. We did it for her. The memories I’ve made the past four years with these girls and the ones before me it’s been amazing.”

The Hawks season ends at 20-12.

“Those girls have given me three wonderful years. I couldn’t ask for anything more.” Hartwick said. “[The season] was a fun ride. It had its ups and downs, but these girls bought in, and they played their best basketball when it counted.”

More like this: