Season ends for Lady Tigers with loss to Thunder Ridge

The Stockton Lady Tigers’ basketball season came to an end last Friday night following their 56-39 loss to the undefeated and top-ranked Thunder Ridge Lady Longhorns in the semifinals of the KSHSAA Class 1A Regional Basketball Tournament held at Rock Hills High School in Mankato.

Despite a large number of turnovers, several of which led to fast break points for Thunder Ridge, and some untimely offensive put-backs by the Lady Longhorns, the Stockton girls gave their opponents a good game for just over three quarters.

Macy Odle scored the first two points of the contest to put the Lady Tigers on the scoreboard, but Thunder Ridge would go on to score 10 unanswered points to lead 10-2 at the 4:04 mark. Shae Griffin’s two free throws, followed by Tatum Hamilton’s trey pulled Stockton within three, 10-7, and at the end of the period the Lady Tigers were trailing 18-14.

Two free throws by Olivia Dix at the 3:25 mark of the second period made the score 22-18 in favor of Thunder Ridge, but a basket by Griffin would be the only other points Stockton would get for the remainder of the quarter, resulting in a halftime deficit of 29-20 for the Lady Tigers.

Two more free throws by Dix, followed by a basket by Chloe Plumer cut the margin to 29-24 with just under five minutes to go in the third, but over the next minute the Lady Longhorns were able to enjoy their first double-digit lead of the game, 34-24.

Stockton continued to battle and Griffin’s trey with 2:14 left in the third had the Lady Tigers back within six, 36-30. Unfortunately just over a minute later Thunder Ridge took their largest lead of the game at 42-30. A trey at the buzzer by Griffin made the score 44-35 going into the final eight minutes.

A basket by Dix to open the fourth quarter put the Lady Tigers back within seven 44-37, but Stockton went the next three minutes without scoring, resulting in a 50-37 deficit. Griffin finally put an end to the Lady Longhorns’ 6-0 run when she made a basket, but that would be all the Lady Tigers would muster as Thunder Ridge went on to win 56-39, improving to 19-0 on the season.

Stockton, whose roster included four seniors: Ellie Bellerive, Shae Griffin, Tatum Hamilton and Macy Odle, finished the season with a record of 9-12.

The Lady Tigers were led in scoring by Shae Griffin with a game-high 18 points. Olivia Dix added 10.

Brennan Kirchhoff led Thunder Ridge with 16 points. Iva Rust and Jaden Boden added 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Lady Tigers vs. Lakeside

The Stockton Lady Tigers traveled to Downs on Tuesday to take on the Lakeside Lady Knights in the first round of the 1A Regional Basketball Tournament. The Lady Tigers (8-12), who were seeded fifth, got off to a slow start against fourth-seeded Lakeside (10-7), leading just 6-2 after the first quarter

Ṡtockton’s Shae Griffin opened the second period with a shot to push the lead to 8-2, and the margin was still at six, 11-5, at the midway point in the quarter when Tatum Hamilton hit a trey.

With 2:41 left in the first half, Olivia Dix hit two free throws to give Stockton a 13-7 lead, but the Lady Knights answered 30 seconds later to pull back within four, 13-9.

Macy Odle’s shot with just under two minutes to go in the second ignited a 13-0 run for the Lady Tigers, and they never looked back. Odle’s trey just before the intermission put Stockton up 20-9, and two free throws by Dix, followed by a threepointer and free throw by Chloe Plumer pushed the lead to 26-9 at the 6:35 mark of the third quarter.

Lakeside scored a couple minutes later to halt the run, but Griffin and Dix scored back-to-back baskets, making the score 30-11. At the end of the third, the Lady Tigers enjoyed a 37–17 lead, and by the midway point of the fourth period they were up 46-23 before going on to win 50-31, advancing them to the semifinals of the tourney on Friday against top-seeded Thunder Ridge.

Olivia Dix scored a game-high 14 points to lead Stockton. Shae Griffin added 13.

The Lady Knights were led by Kylie Geisel with 13 points.