NAPOLEON – Somedays the ball just doesn’t go in the basket, no matter how hard one tries.

That, unfortunately , was the story for the Tinora Lady Rams in the first 16 minutes of their District Semi-Finals game vs the Ottawa Hills Green Bears. The same shot that went through the net for the past 4 months all of the sudden didn’t want to go through the hoop at the Grand Canyon at Napoleon High School.

Ottawas Hills freshman sensation Kendall Skiver let up the scoreboard for seven first quarter points as the Green Bears shut out the Lady Rams, 17-0 in the initial quarter.

The second quarter would see the lid remain on the basket for Tinora as their only basket of the second stanza and the half came at the 2:56 mark, a Eowyn Blanchard layup.

The Green Bears took a 29-2 lead to the half, led by Skiver’s 16 points, with eight rebounds and teammate Sophia VanSlooten’s seven points.

The third quarter saw a switch of the end of the court prove to be much better for the Lady Rams as the came out of the half with a 6-0 run in the first 90 seconds, senior Julia Durfey sparked the run with two quick buckets.

Tinora continued to plug away as the third quarter continued, the Lady Rams saw the same shots that wouldn’t fall in the first half suddenly fall over the next eight minutes.

Tinora exploded for 23 points in the third quarter, cutting the 27 point deficit down to 45-25 after three quarters of play. Tinora’s Christina Meyer supplying a great defensive effort, forcing multiple Ottawa Hills turnovers.

Unfortunately for Tinora, the fouls began to mount as Meyer and Blanchard would collect their fourth foul each.

Nova Okuley’s final bucket as a Lady Ram, a left wing three, point 15 for her, cut the deficit down to 49-33 with 4:21 remaining in the contest.

Eowyn Blachard’s final Tinora points came on two free throws, cutting the deficit down to 49-35 with 2:50 in the fourth.

The Lady Rams would continue to battle as the final quarter ticked away, Christina Meyer’s three point play cut it to 51-37 with 2:20 remaining.

Tinora would get no closer as Ottawa Hills would close out the final two minutes, moving on to the District Finals with a 56-38 victory.

The freshman Skiver would end with a game high 28 points for the Green Bears, the Lady Rams were paced by senior Nova Okuley and her 15 points.

OTTAWA HILLS 17-12-16-10 = 56
TINORA 0-2-23-13 = 38

Ottawa Hills scoring: Potts 8, Snyder 2, Skiver 28, Berenzweig 1, VanSlooten 17, Kale 0

Tinora scoring: Meyer 3, Spangler 2, Blanchard 10, Creps 2, Coy 0, Durfer 4, Okuley 15, Bailey 2, Homier 0, Zimmerman 0, Spieth 0.

Ottawa hills improves to 15-9 and will play Patrick Henry Saturday afternoon at Napoleon, 2 pm tip.

Tinora sees their season end at 13-10. The Lady Rams finished second in the GMC at 5-2.

What a great season, and we wish nothing but the best for the Lady Rams senior class of Eowyn Blanchard, Amelia Coy, Julia Durfey, Nova Okuley, and Emma Bailey.

Each of you left the program better than when you arrived, congratulations, and best of luck in the future!

Nova is leaving the program as just the fifth Lady Rams to score over 1,000 career points!

PIC, Sarah Harris

Part 1 (signal loss mid 1st quarter)

Part 2 (2nd qtr to finish) below: