Lady Indians make history with 3rd place finish
The St. Paul Lady Indians accept their medals after finishing 3rd place in the Class 1A-1 state tournament, beating Hoxie 31-30.
BY NICK CORN
Seniors Jordyn Tuck (pictured), Josie Albertini (below) and Holly Hutcherson ended their high school careers on a positive note, offing the always difficult Hoxie Lady Indians at state.
While they didn’t compete for a state championship on Saturday, the 2015-2016 1-seed St. Paul Lady Indians made history by finishing third at the 1A-1 State Tournament, with a 31-30 win over the 2-seed and four-time defending champions Hoxie.
After going 0-5 in consolation games previously, the Lady Indians took third at state for the first time in program history.
St. Paul built a 20-15 halftime advantage by holding Hoxie to six points on 3-14 shooting from the field in the first half. Senior Josie Albertini was a perfect 4-4 from the field and 2-2 from the charity stripe to score 10 of her 11 points in the first half.
Hoxie cut the Lady Indian lead to 26-25 heading into the fourth after outscoring St. Paul 10-6 in the third quarter. Hoxie then took the lead with less than a minute to play, but senior Holly Hutcherson answered with a turnaround jumper on the block, erupting the St. Paul crowd as the ball went into the basket. The Lady Indians took a 31-30 victory.
Albertini’s 11 led St. Paul, while Hutcherson’s game-winner gave her 7 points. Fellow senior Jordyn Tuck added 6 points and led the team with 7 rebounds. These three seniors will be difficult to replace, but what a way to end their high school careers as basketball players, beating the mighty Hoxie Lady Indians at state.
St. Paul won their first 23 games of the season before Waverly handed them their first loss in Friday’s semifinal. With the third-place victory, the Lady Indians finish the 2015-2016 campaign with a 24-1 record and a spot in Lady Indian basketball history.