Scobey, Panthers Treat Fans To Some Great Volleyball Action
Written by Daniels County Leader Wednesday, 04 November 2009 14:32
SCOBEY’S DEMI HENDERSON goes low vertically and fully extends horizontally for this dig during Friday’s match against Saco-Hinsdale at the District 3C Girls’ Volleyball Tournament in Scobey. Looking on is teammate McKenzie Kilgore, who was playing the libero position. — Leader Photo, mike
There weren’t any Halloween tricks going on Saturday, October 31, in the Scobey School gym while the District 3C Girls’ Volleyball Tournament’s championship matches were being played — unless an offensive tip above the net instead a kill shot counts as a little tom foolery.
There were, however, plenty of treats, compliments
of the victorious Saco-Hinsdale Panthers and runnersup Scobey Spartans. Unlike the many others on this night who were passing out goodies to ghouls, ghosts and goblins, these two teams were doling out countless doses of great volleyball drama over the course of 10 games in two matches spanning 250 minutes with a half-hour breather in between.
Both advance to the East C Divisional Tournament in Sidney starting this morning (Thursday, November 5) when Fairview, first in the District 1C tourney, faces Terry, second in 2C at 9 a.m. followed by Saco-Hinsdale meeting Ekalaka, third in 2C, at 11 a.m. Circle, first in 2C, plays Savage, third in 1C, at 1 p.m. and Scobey clashes with Culbertson, second in 1C, at 3 p.m. (see Grain Growers Oil Company-sponsored bracket elsewhere in this issue).
If Scobey defeats Culbertson, it will play the Circle-Savage winner at 8 p.m. Thursday night in the quarterfinals; if the Spartans lose they meet the Circle-Savage loser at 11 a.m. Friday.
All of the Scobey matches will be broadcast live on Scobey radio station KCGM 95.7 FM and worldwide on internet streaming at www.abacast.com/kcgmsports.
In what was a 7-team tournament in 2008 — Brockton, Culbertson, Frazer, Lustre Christian, Nashua, Saco-Hinsdale and Scobey — the District 3C event shrunk to just four teams last weekend at the Scobey School. During the off-season Culbertson was moved to the 1C, Lustre Christian announced just before the season it didn’t have enough players and Brockton bowed out a couple of weeks into the season. Whitewater dropped its program following the 2007 campaign due to a lack of players.
But, as they say, the show must go on, and on Friday Saco-Hinsdale defeated Frazer 3-0 in the tourney opener, Scobey swept Nashua and the Panthers stopped the Spartans 3-1 in the night cap, where Karsen Drury registered 23 blocks and 14 kills along the net.
Tourney action resumed Saturday at 3 p.m. when Nashua eliminated Frazer, setting up the third-place match between the Porcupines and Scobey, a berth in the East C Divisional on the line. The Spartans cruised to easy victories in games 1 and 2 but Nashua pulled away from a tie at 23 to win by two in game 3. In game 4, the Porcupines led 18-12 but Scobey went on a 10-zip scoring run to take control and win by 3.
Scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., the first championship match had its initial serve clearing the net at 6:36 p.m., with the Spartans taking a 1-0 lead on the Panthers. Then it was tied at 1, 3, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16 before Saco-Hinsdale built a 21-17 lead. Scobey battled back to knot it at 22 and then pulled away for a 25-23 win.
Game 2 was tied four times, the last at 9-all, before Annie DePuydt put 13 straight serves into play and all leading to points as the Panthers rolled to a 25-11 triumph.
Scobey took the early advantage in game 3 at 3-zip, the Panthers tied it at 3 and then went ahead 6-3 before the Spartans came back and tied it at 6, going ahead for good to win 25-19 for a 2-1 advantage.
Saco-Hinsdale never trailed in game 4, taking a 5-0 lead and building 10-point leads on three occasions before winning by a dozen and tying the match at 2-2.
In game 5 the Spartans led by as much as 4 until the Panthers clawed back for a tie at 10, prompting Scobey head coach Del Henderson to call a timeout and slow her opponent’s momentum. It worked as the Spartans tallied the next three points and posted a 15-12 victory, forcing a second championship match since it was a true double elimination tourney.
The Spartans served well in the match that lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes, true on 85-89 for 96 percent, with Kate Gunderson leading the way with 16-17 and 5 aces, including 2 in the pivotal game 5. Colleen Kinsey (20-22) and Amanda Thievin (13-13) recorded Scobey’s other aces with 3 and 2 respectively. Demi Henderson and McKenzie Kilgore both went 14-14 while BriAnn Nelson was 8-9.
Scobey had 55 blocks in the match, with Gunderson getting 22, Drury 14, Mary Kelly 9, Kinsey 8 and Henderson and Thievin 1 each. Gunderson (14), Drury (9) and Kelly (5) produced the bulk of Scobey’s 33 kills.
The second championship began at 8:49 p.m. and an ace by Gunderson, a Drury kill and a Thievin hit finding the corner gave the Spartans early momentum for a 6-1 lead in game 1 and eventually a 17-7 advantage. The Panthers, however, rallied to tie it at 21 and 22 before Scobey closed with a 3-zip run, ending with Gunderson’s shot for the win.
Saco-Hinsdale pulled away from a 10-10 score to win game 2 by a 25-21 count and, after being knotted at 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 18, 19, 20 and 21, also won game 3 by the same score to take a 2-1 lead in games.
Give the Spartans a ton of credit, though, as there was just no give-up in these girls.
Game 4 was tied at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 before a Thievin ace and Kelly kill gave Scobey a lead they wouldn’t relinguish. The Panthers closed within 22-18 on a Mandy Beil hit but then put the next one into the net, making it 23-18. Kinsey’s low serve hit the floor for another point and Kelly’s kill slammed into the middle of the court for the winner, producing a 2-2 tie.
Game 5 got underway at 10:31 p.m. and DePuydt — has she missed a serve all season? — was true on four straight for a quick 4-0 lead. A Drury cross-court smash followed by her tip got Scobey within 6-3 but the Panthers began pulling away, up 12-6. A couple of Gunderson kills gave the Spartans a little bit of a rally, getting within 14-12, but Saco-Hinsdale won it 15-12 after 1 hour and 53 minutes of great action.
Gunderson (19 kills, 14 blocks), Drury (12 kills, 15 blocks) and Kelly (11 kills, 5 blocks) were strong on the front line while Scobey was 98-104 in serving for 94 percent, led by Kinsey at 22-22 with 2 aces.
All told, from when the Spartans began playing Nashua around 4:30 p.m. to finishing at 10:46 p.m., they played 14 games in 3 matches with 5 hours and 9 minutes worth of court time, coming up just 3 points short of the championship.
Very admirable indeed!
FRIDAY
Saco-Hinsdale def. Frazer 25-5, 25-14, 25-11
Scobey def. Nashua 25-16, 25-19, 25-11
Saco-Hinsdale def. Scobey 23-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-18
SATURDAY
Nashua def. Frazer, scores not available
Scobey def. Nashua 25-10, 25-15, 23-25, 25-22
Scobey def. Saco-Hinsdale 25-23, 11-25, 25-19, 13-25, 15-12
Saco-Hinsdale def. Scobey 22-25, 25-21, 25-21, 18-25, 15-12
SPARTANS AT DISTRICT — Clockwise from top left: Kate Gunderson goes for the single block; Amanda Thievin receives a serve; Karsen Drury (left) and Mary Kelly go for the double block. — Leader Photos, mike
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