Tigers outlast Cats for 46-39 win

VERSAILLES - The battle between state No. 1s Versailles and Minster was one-sided in the first half.

The game did, however, turn into a battle in the second half.

Kami McEldowney scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, Versailles (No. 3 in Division III) used its length to block nine shots and held off a comeback bid by Minster (No. 1 in Division IV) for a 46-39 victory in front of a packed audience in Versailles on Thursday evening.

The Tigers improved to 17-1 overall and now stand alone atop the Midwest Athletic Conference standings at 7-0.

"We talked about (winning the MAC) in the locker room," Versailles coach Jacki Stonebraker said. "I said you can't get too high. You can't get too low. This was a great test for us, but we've still got two more MAC games to go. "

Two-time defending conference champion Minster fell to 14-2 and 5-1 after the loss in one of the more physical contests seen in recent memory.

"We've seen it before. That's what girls' basketball is as the season goes on" said Minster coach Mike Wiss about the physicality. "This is a 100-foul game in the first two weeks of the year, but as the season goes, the whistles change and play changes. This is a tournament game, a tournament atmosphere and tournament physicality. You figure it out and you go with it. But their length was a big deal on the outcome tonight."

Minster held a 5-2 lead early in the first quarter and then Versailles scored eight unanswered as part of an 11-2 run to close the quarter. Kami McEldowney knocked down a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining in the quarter to cap the run.

McEldowney finished the half a perfect 4-of-4 shooting, dialing up two more from long distance in the second quarter and adding a floater in the paint. Danielle Winner and Kelsey Custenborder added six apiece as the Tigers built a 31-15 lead by halftime.

"Kami got loose a couple times," Wiss said. "We helped a little bit too much on a couple screens and left a kid open underneath. They got a couple offensive stickbacks. … Some of that little stuff adds up pretty fast."

Versailles went 12-of-20 from the field in the half. Minster went 7-of-27 and had eight shots blocked.

"I don't think we've played better basketball than we have in the second quarter - on both ends of the floor," Stonebraker said. "We were just dominating. We went to the locker room and I could see the fire in their eyes and the intensity. I said it can't drop. You've got to keep winning these quarters. … And by the looks of the second half, it wasn't pretty."

All five Minster starters scored in the third quarter and the deficit shrank with a 14-7 run. Demaris Wolf's jumper just before the final buzzer made the score 38-29.

The Tigers maintained a 9-10 point cushion for much of the fourth. Leading 42-33 with 2:50 remaining, Kami McEldowney threw an inbound pass off the back of a Minster defender and scored.

The Wildcats made one final push late, though - using an offensive rebound and stickback by Courtney Prenger and a pair of free throws by Ivy Wolf to make it a 44-37 game with 1:30 remaining. After the Tigers missed the front end of a one-and-one, Taylor Kogge knocked down a 15-footer off an assist from Alli Fischer.

But Minster missed its final five shot attempts and Caitlin McEldowney knocked down two at the line for Versailles.

"It was a two-possession game with a minute and a half to 2 minutes left," Wiss said. "I'm pleased with that."

Elizabeth Ording scored eight points and Kelsey Custenborder added seven for Versailles, which has conference games remaining at New Knoxville (Feb. 1) and at home with St. Henry (Feb. 8).

Taylor Kogge scored 14 points and Prenger added 12 for the Wildcats, who had their two-year unbeaten conference run come to an end.