Warner's state trip ended abruptly by Howe
Mar. 8—Warner coach Mindi Peters kept her team in the locker room at halftime without the customary shoot-around to start the second half, talking about the big problem on the Lady Eagles' hands.
That problem? The inside muscle and size of the Howe Lady Lions.
The Lady Eagles had just weathered a 9-0 run to close the half with Harlie Chesser's 3 in the fading seconds of the first half to trail 27-22. But the long confab didn't result in a solution.
What followed was a 7-0 start to the third quarter that, though early, left the Lady Lions in command of a game they wouldn't relinquish, ending Warner's first state tournament trip in 20 years in the late of night at the State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City on Tuesday in a 64-43 outcome.
The key factors were found on the boards and in long-range shooting. After Alexis Fowler got the first points of the game on a 3, the Lady Eagles would hit just three more from beyond the arc, and just one after a 3-of-9 first half, finishing 4-of-16.
Howe had a 33-20 edge on rebounds, 16-5 on Warner's end of the floor.
"We talked about it before the game how one of the keys would be blocking out and limited their possessions and we weren't able to do that as well as we'd liked to. We know their size would be a factor and it was and we really didn't have an answer for it," Peters said.
Chesser, Peyton Sikes in the third quarter and Kambree Ellis with 6:53 in the fourth had four fouls and Sikes would foul out with 3 1/2 minutes to go. All of that helped translated to Howe going 15-of-23 from the line. Warner was 7-of-10.
Kaydence Delt was one of those "big" factors. She's only 5-9, but broad shouldered, she outmuscled Warner inside and had 16 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. She was 5-of-12, all inside and 6-of-9 from the line, and one of three Lady Lions in double figures.
Chesser was Warner's lone double-figure scorer with 15 points as the Lady Eagles saw a nine-game win streak end with their season at 22-5.
But she and the other starters will get another crack at state next year as the team loses one senior, reserve Tyia Fullbright.
"We got lots of experience playing here and in the state tournament," Peters said. "I'm happy and thankful to have the opportunity be playing it and not sitting in the stands like we were last year."
Howe (24-6), which beat Oktaha to advance to state, will have two days off to get ready for Pawhuska, which beat Preston 56-30 in another quarterfinal, back at the fairgrounds on Friday.
