It was the third meeting of the year and the rubber match between two teams that finished with a 13-7 record in the regular season and drew the fourth and fifth seeds in the Sabetha 3A Sub-State.  The game did not dissapoint and was a tight contest throughout, but missed free throws by Hiawatha and a couple late baskets down the stretch for ACCHS propelled the Tigers into the semifinals with a huge home court victory in Effingham on Monday. 

GIRLS = ACCHS 38, Hiawatha 37

Hiawatha hit a trio of three-pointers in the first quarter and jumped out to a 10-3 advantage, but only one trey fell the rest of the game and they missed a lot of open outside shots.  Hiawatha scored the final six points of the first half to maintain a 20-14 lead and was up by as many as eight points in the third quarter. 

Yet, the Lady Tigers never went away and used full court pressure to force five turnovers in the final quarter while seniors Lillie Holtgrave, Blair Fowler and Rachel Newquest got hot and the offense finally came ot life for ACCHS.  The Tigers used a 10-2 run to start the fourth frame and took a 30-29 lead as Holtgrave hit a couple shots from behind the arc and scored 10 of her 15 points late.  Fowler also hit a big three-pointer and the lead changed hands throughout the final five minutes. 

Perhaps the biggest difference came down to the foul-line where Hiawatha was only 3 of 10 in the game and missed 6 charity tosses in the fourth quarter alone, while ACCHS was 3 of 4 at the line late and made 5 of 10 for the contest.  Newquist scored 9 points and made all the Tigers foul shots; then out of a timeout, hit a 12-foot jumper with :10 left to give Atchison County the 38-37 lead.  Hiawatha got the ball down the court, but Emily Gartner missed a shot in the lane as time expired. 

Gartner was held to 14 points, with 10 coming in the fourth quarter, and Courtney Brockoff added 12 points before Hiawatha ended their season with a 13-8 record, more than doubling their win total from last year and beating everyone on their schedule at least once.  Hiawatha ended the year winning 10 of their final 13 games and had no seniors on the roster.  ACCHS is now 14-7 and will have a third meeting with Sabetha on Thursday night in the 3A semifinals on the Bluejays home court.