Springfield falls to Fulda 57-49

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

MARSHALL -- This isn't the way the Springfield Tigers wanted the season to end. Win or lose, you want to go out playing your best game.

Defensively, the Tigers gave themselves a chance, but offensively Springfield never got untracked. The Fulda Raiders capitalized and decisioned Springfield 57-49 Tuesday night in a Class 1A girls quarterfinal game at the Recreation/Athletic Facility at Southwest State University.

"It was a tough game, we didn't shoot the ball the way we wanted to," Springfield coach Paul Arnoldi said. "Offensively, I thought we kind of pressed a little bit and forced some bad shots. Second half, I thought we came out and did the things we wanted to do early. We just couldn't sustain it for the whole second half."

Springfield (20-7) was 18-for-48 (37.5 percent) from the field. Taryn Runck led the Tigers with a game-high 18 points and senior Jacqueline Schultz scored 16 -- seven in the final quarter, including a pair of 3s that kept the Raiders from pulling away.

But in the end, what appeared to be inevitable from the beginning came to fruition. Fulda (23-4) did everything it needed to do -- the Raiders rebounded better, they shot better, they were bigger and they were quicker.

But just.

"It was an outstanding job by Springfield," Fulda coach Gregg Slaathaug said. "They're one of the best defensive teams we've faced the entire year."

The Raiders made it work -- inside and outside. Erin Oakland led four Raiders in double figures with 14 points; Jenna Wendorff, Susan Grandgeorge and Katrina Kramer each scored 10.

Wendorff was the inside presence for the Raiders. The 6-foot-1 senior was 4-for-5 from the field and grabbed nine rebounds.

The Oaklands -- Erin and Abby -- and Grandgeorge and Kramer provided the perimeter game. The Raiders were 22-for-50 (44 percent) from the field and 5-for-14 (37.5 percent) from 3-point range.

But the Tigers didn't let the Raiders win it easily.

"Early, I felt like it was going to end up that way," Slaathuag said. "But (Jeama Schultz) played well and (Jacqueline Schultz) did a hell of a job. I wasn't confident we were going to win until the last couple of seconds."

The Raiders led 16-12 after the first quarter. It was a study in contrasts for the Raiders.

Fulda committed seven turnovers in the first eight minutes. The Raiders got only seven shots, but they hit all seven.

Fulda extended its lead to 22-12 with 6:13 in the first half after back-to-back 3s by the Oakland sisters. Abby Oakland hit the first 3 and Erin Oakland gunned one in from the right wing on the next Fulda possession.

Springfield cut the lead to seven -- 29-22 -- at halftime and rallied as the Raiders went cold, going only 2-for-14 from the field in the third quarter. Jacqueline Schultz hit a 3 from the right wing to cut the lead to 29-27 with 6:13 in the third quarter and a little more than a minute later Runck scored in transition to tie the game at 29.

But the Tigers couldn't sustain the rally and Fulda led 37-33 going into the final quarter.

Springfield kept it close. But with the Tigers still within six points, Grandgeorge hit a 3 from the right wing for a 50-41 Fulda lead with 2:07 in the game.

The Tigers just didn't have enough offense to pull it out.

"It was just an off night, I think, shooting the basketball," Arnoldi said. "We panicked a little bit. ... We were really impatient on offense the first half. When they scored, we tried to score too quick, I thought. We really didn't recover from that.

"I thought we did a good enough job defensively to win the ballgame, but offensively, we just weren't there tonight."