4A-II girls: Andale juniors big part of third-place win

When a team’s leading scorer is held to one basket, that usually ends in a loss.

But two other juniors stepped up for Andale in Saturday’s Class 4A-II third-place game.

Morgan Geist and Tyler Winter combined for 22 points, helping the Indians secure the trophy with a 57-54 victory over a scrappy Scott City team that held Andale’s leading scorer, junior Rachel Bergkamp, to one field goal.

“Coach (Ted Anderson) is always talking about how everyone needs to join together, and somebody needs to step up, and we weren’t scoring like we need to, I just got in there and played as hard as I could,” Geist said. “We competed today.”

Andale (14-11) held Scott City (14-11) scoreless for the first 5:07, but then the Indians went cold and Scott City took advantage, storming back and taking a 29-27 halftime lead on a floater by junior Macie Price as the buzzer sounded.

But in the second half, the 5-11 Geist used her length to score inside, getting eight of her 13 points after halftime. Winter hit a big three-pointer in the first half and finished with nine.

Bergkamp saved her best for last, hitting 5 of 6 free throws in the final quarter.

“I was just trying to get it inside, because we’re much bigger than they were,” Bergkamp said. “Getting those easy points down low.”

Anderson said he was counting on Scott City having some fatigue.

“Three games in three days, you’ve got tired legs, so you’ve got to get it inside,” he said. “That was big, and our kids finally started doing it and found out what they could do.”

Scott City, coached by former Garden Plain girls coach Sarah McCormick, kept scrapping – even down to the final buzzer, when Price’s halfcourt three-pointer provided the final margin.

“They like to get after you,” Geist said.

Andale clinched the victory at the free-throw line, hitting 11 of 14 in the final quarter.

Geist and, yes, another junior Bria Gutschenritter, controlled the boards, collecting 17 of Andale’s 35.

So, Andale will go home with a victory over the defending 4A-II champion but with a third-place trophy to boot.

“We get to put a picture in the trophy case, and I call that ‘living forever,’ ” Anderson said.

This story was originally published March 11, 2017 at 5:11 PM with the headline "4A-II girls: Andale juniors big part of third-place win."