Goddard puts away Rose Hill in fourth quarter of Haven semifinals

When leading scorer Sam Schwab is held scoreless for three quarters, that’s usually not a good sign for Goddard.

Schwab didn’t score until 7:37 remained in the game, but the Lions got key contributions from her teammates for a 49-41 victory over Rose Hill on Friday night in the Wildcat Classic semifinals.

The Lions (9-1) will face top-seeded Wellington (11-0), a 56-44 winner over Cheney, in Saturday’s final.

A tough Rose Hill zone prevented Schwab from getting good shots inside, and the Rockets (5-6) had a first-half lead that reached 20-14 midway through the second quarter.

“Rose Hill’s zone gave us a lot of problems,” Goddard coach Kevin Hackerott said. “When we got the lead and could pull them into a man-to-man defense, that was big there late.”

But the Lions stayed close using the three-pointer, hitting five in the first half. The last one, by senior Jessica Gardiner, came just before the halftime buzzer and cut the Rockets’ lead to 24-22.

“The neat thing about this team is that every night, someone’s always doing something,” Hackerott said. “The three right before half that Jessica hit was really big. We were only down two instead of down five. Sometimes, in a low-scoring type of game, that can be a real big deal.”

Junior guard Madi Smith hit three three-pointers in the first half, keeping the Rose Hill lead manageable.

“We definitely got some momentum toward halftime, then in the second half we knew we had a lot more to give, so we were feeling pretty good,” Smith said.

Hackerott said much of Schwab’s troubles came courtesy of Rose Hill junior post Kylie Woods, who also scored a team-high 14 points.

“Kylie played really well,” Hackerott said, but “Sam kept plugging away and made some big plays for us late.

“That kind of just describes our team: We just plug along, and it’s not real pretty. Then all of a sudden we make a few plays, and we can sit down and guard somebody.”

Schwab saved her best for last, scoring six of Goddard’s 18 fourth-quarter points and helping the Lions pull away.

“Even though I wasn’t doing good, I knew our guards were on fire,” Schwab said. “So I knew if could get them an open look, we’d have a good chance of winning.”

Hackerott will be facing a familiar team in the final. Hackerott coached the Crusaders’ girls before coming to Goddard.

“It will be a great big challenge for us, but our kids are ready,” Hackerott said. “We’ll step up. I would imagine it’s going to be a dogfight, and it’s going to be fun to watch.”

Wellington 56, Cheney 44: Two good quarters was all the Crusaders needed to put away from the Cardinals (8-4). Wellington outscored Cheney 18-9 in the second quarter and 16-6 in the fourth. Lauryn Snipes had 17 points for the Crusaders, and Grace Mitchell had 15.

Haven 49, Nickerson 32: Haven (9-3) jumped to a 29-16 halftime lead and cruised past the Panthers (3-9). Katelynn Stucky and Emmiley Hendrixson scored 15 points each for the Wildcats.

Kingman 58, Chaparral 17: Twins Bailey (16 points) and Sydney Bangert (11) combined for 27 points to help the Eagles (9-3) bounce back.

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 10:39 PM with the headline "Goddard puts away Rose Hill in fourth quarter of Haven semifinals."