TIPTON — St. Vincent senior guard Lana Adams scored 15 points and finished with 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 6 steals in a 63- 52 loss to host Tipton in the annual Tipton Latham Bank Shootout on Jan. 3.
“We knew it was going to be a hard game,” said St. Vincent coach Mel Kirn. “We beat them last year in the semifinals to get to the championship game, and up there in the state playoffs last year. We knew they was going be a tough, tough team. They brought it to us.”
After a close first quarter, the Lady Indians trailed by only 3 points at the half — 28-25 — and closed the gap to 45-43 after three quarters. The Lady Cardinals (7-5) hit their stride in the fourth, outscoring St. Vincent 18-9 in the fourth to set the final margin.
A big factor in the fourth quarter, Kirn said, was several players getting into foul trouble, including Adams, who fouled out.
“We turned the ball over, I think, three times when we had it,” Kirn said. “Then we got in foul trouble a little bit. They called some fouls on us, and [Tipton] had nine foul shots there in the fourth quarter. They made every one of them.”
Senior Kate Rubel finished with 13 points for the Lady Indians, along with 7 rebounds, 5 assists and a block. Senior Rylee Robinson had 11 points.
“We played a good game,” Kirn said. “Everybody was so happy the way our girls played. We rebounded, we hustled, our defense was awesome. It wasn’t an 11-point game. It turned into an 11-point game in the last minute, but it was back and forth, and like I said, they’ve got a really good team. Our defense is playing so good that it’s creating stuff for us.”
Looking ahead, Kirn said he’s looking to the bench to lend a hand.
“We’ve got the other girls that can step up and come off the bench and help us,” Kirn said. “Our bench came in, and they got in 9 points, so that was pretty good. That’s something we’re looking for more, when the girls come off the bench. They can do a little bit more scoring for us and help us. They’re finally picking up the pace a little bit to score, and it’s helping our team out a lot.”
Kirn called the game “a stepping stone” for the Lady Indians.
“We’re getting there,” Kirn said. “We talked about early in the year about making a harder schedule, and we’ve got a harder schedule. It’s going to pay off.
ST. VINCENT 51, ST. ELIZABETH 37
TIPTON — St. Vincent senior Brie Rubel scored 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting — including 4-of-7 from three-point range — and collected 6 rebounds and made 3 assists to help boost the Lady Indians (5-3) to a 14-point victory over the St Elizabeth Lady Hornets (8-1) in their opening game at the Tipton Latham Bank Shootout on Jan. 2.
“St. Elizabeth was a really good ball club,” said St. Vincent coach Mel Kirn. “They’ve got a couple of really good girls on their team. Our girls come out, and we played a really good ball game. We played some awesome, awesome defense, and we had our kids did a lot of good things. I think we’re growing pretty good together. We’re starting to jell together really good and looking out for each other.”
Kirn said his team used the game as a bit of experiment, with results that left him pleased and optimistic. “It was just a good game,” Kirn said. “We ended up winning by 14, but it could have been a bigger game than that. We were kinda trying some new offenses, some new defenses, and once we get it all together, I think it’s all going to work out pretty good.” Senior Kate Rubel was the only other Lady Indian to score more than 10 points, finishing with 15, collecting 7 rebounds and making 4 steals. Kirn said the concentrated scoring wasn’t a big concern, although he is encouraging other players to take more shots.
“We’ve got the two Rubels, and they’re both pretty good scorers,” Kirn said. “But then we’ve been getting points from some of our other girls, like [Rylee Robinson], she had 8 points for us. And then [Lana Adams], she only had 1, but she did a lot of good playing. She led us with 8 rebounds that game, and she’s getting some assists and running point guard for us, looking for the open person.”
While Kirn said he was pleased by what she’s been doing, he hopes Adams will find her shooting stroke. “She’s passing up some shots,” Kirn said. “We keep telling her she’s got to shoot those shots because we’ve got to have another outside shooter like that. You’ve got to have that confidence, and she’s getting her confidence. I love her ability and the way she handles the ball. She handles the ball very well.”
