Lady Vikes lose regional final heartbreaker, 36-35

 HARLAN (Feb. 26) -- The AHSTW girls basketball team fell just one basket shy of extending a memorable season and snapping a 19-year state tournament drought on the same night.
 In the end, a subpar third quarter proved too much to overcome last Wednesday as the 13th-ranked Lady Vikes lost to 12th-ranked Logan-Magnolia 36-35 in a thrilling Class 2A, Region 8 final in Harlan.
 Up 19-13 at the half, AHSTW was outscored 18-2 in the third before mounting a gutty comeback from 10 points down at the start of the fourth.
 The Lady Vikes cut the gap to one point three times in the final 2:01 and had one last possession to possibly win the game after Lo-Ma’s Kylie Morrison missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with :26.4 to go. Following a timeout, the Lady Vikes had a pass deflected and nearly stolen at the top of the key before Kinsey Scheffler got the ball and had it knocked out of bounds.
 Unfortunately, just one-tenth of a second remained on the clock, forcing AHSTW to run a tip play to legally beat the buzzer. The ensuing inbounds pass was caught by Scheffler in the lane, but her shot was off the mark and would not have counted had it gone in.
 Logan-Magnolia, which last went to state in 2017 (its first trip), improved to 21-3 and will face No. 2 West Hancock (24-1) in a Class 2A state quarterfinal Wednesday (March 4) in Des Moines. AHSTW, seeking its first trip to state since 2001, finished an outstanding year at 20-4. The two teams split their regular-season series in the Western Iowa Conference.
 “We made a nice little comeback,” said AHSTW head coach Steve Sauvain. “But in hindsight... we had two pretty good looks inside that we just couldn’t get to go in. We just had a little lid on the basket there at the end.”
 Logan-Magnolia packed its defense toward the lane all night to contend with Lady Vike post players Kailey Jones and Scheffler. Jones scored a team-high 13 points while Scheffler was held to four. The Panthers sagged off of junior guard Julia Kock at times, but she made them pay with a pair of threes and 11 points.
 “We knew they were going to leave Julia alone and I don’t think she could have played any better than what she did,” Sauvain said.
 The Lady Vikes, meanwhile, guarded Lo-Ma’s top three players in man-to-man for much of the night while having two other girls play zone. The strategy worked well in the first half as Lo-Ma junior Emilie Thompson (8 points) and senior Kylie Morrison (5) were the only Panthers to score.
 The third quarter, however, was all Panthers. Morrison, the team’s talented point guard, got things going with a fast break layup and her second three-pointer of the game. Violet Lapke and Thompson also drained treys and freshman Ava Goldsmith capped the period with a right-corner three with just :03 left.
 Trailing 31-21, the Lady Vike comeback began with a three-pointer by Kock and a steal and layup by Harris during the first few minutes of the fourth. Lo-Ma didn’t wait long to switch to a delay offense and tried to keep the ball in Morrison’s hands as much as possible. AHSTW extended its defense, though, and used a trap to force a few turnovers, setting the stage for an exciting finish.
 Scheffler, a four-year starter, surpassed 1,000 career points earlier this season and also became the Lady Vikes’ career leader in rebounds, helping the team claim its first WIC title in 20 years.
 “You can’t ask any more out of a kid than her,” added Sauvain. “Career rebound leader and gutsy performer. She’s just been everything for us. She’ll bring the ball up the floor if we need her to. She’ll run a guard spot if we need her to. She’ll be a really really tough one to lose.”
 Morrison and Thompson led Lo-Ma with 13 points each and Morrison added five boards and five assists.