Lady Tigers’ Season Ends at 1A State Tourney

BY NORM BETZ –

After going to the Semifinals of the State Tournament for the past three seasons, the Acorn Lady Tigers had high hopes of finally winning the big one. Unfortunately, the Lady Tigers fell to Wonderview, 64-55, in the first-round of the 1A State Tournament. Senior Jessica Looney led all scorers with a 31 point performance.

“I’m so proud of these young ladies,” said Acorn Lady Tigers head coach Mike Jackson. “They played really hard and showed a lot of heart today.”

The Lady Tigers were outscored by the Lady Daredevils, 20-14, in the first quarter. Looney led Acorn with seven points, hitting a three-pointer and a pair from the field. Senior Misty Oglesby tossed one in from beyond the arc, while freshman Tori Barrett connected on three-of-four free throws. Senior Adrianna Howard closed out the opening quarter scoring hitting one-of-two from the stripe.

Acorn put together a nice second quarter outscoring Wonderview, 21-14, to take a 35-34 lead to the locker room at halftime. Looney guided the Lady Tigers for the second straight quarter with 11 points. Looney drained a pair of three-pointers, tossed in a pair of buckets, and made one-of-three from the charity stripe. Howard and junior Ashlee Long each finished the second with five points. Howard drilled a three-ball and added a bucket, while Long hit a trey of her own and then knocked down a pair from the line.

The Lady Tigers held onto a 47-45 lead at the end of the third after outscoring the Lady Devils 12-11 in the quarter. Looney was good for eight points in the third to lead Acorn. Looney threw in a pair of baskets and converted four-of-four from the line. Howard and Oglesby each added buckets to round out the third quarter Lady Tigers’ scoring.

“It really turned out to be a game of runs,” explained Jackson. “We had runs, they had runs, and then we just ran out of gas in the fourth quarter.”

Unfortunately for the Lady Tigers, Wonderview outscored Acorn in the final quarter, 19-8, to eliminate the Lady Tigers from the 1A State Tournament in the first-round. Looney once again showed the way, hitting her fourth three-ball of the game, and also hitting two-of-two from the line. Junior Teagan Vann got her name in the scorebook hitting one from the field, while Howard hit one-of-two from the stripe to round out the Acorn scoring for the game. The Lady Tigers lost the contest, 64-55.

Four Lady Tigers played in their last high school game: Jessica Looney, Misty Oglesby, Adrianna Howard, and Tara Warrington.

Jessica Looney led all scorers with 31 points. Adrianna Howard finished with nine points, Ashlee Long and Misty Oglesby each added five points, Tori Barrett finished with three points, and Teagan Vann added two points. Acorn shot 70% (14-of-20) from the line, while Wonderview shot 81% (26-of-32).

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Jeri Pearson

Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.

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