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Photo by James Parrish
Megan Pfeifer cuts a piece of the net after Brady's district championship victory.
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The Brady Lady Eagles shut down Stapleton-McPherson County with a stellar defensive effort to win the D1-6 Finals, 36-30, and qualify for the Nebraska State Basketball Tournament in school history on Friday at the McGahan Activities Center on the campus of North Platte St. Patrick high school. It was not the end that Brady senior Megan Pfeifer had for her career, especially after the Eagles went 3-19 her freshman season. No girls' basketball team in Brady history had made state before her, so why would she and her classmates, Danielle Gutherless and Shaunna Scarrow, be any different? "It feels so amazing because as a freshman, we only won three games and no way did I think we could make it this far," said Pfiefer. The past decade or so has not been kind to Brady athletics as the Eagles have had losing season after losing season in all of its team sports. But on Friday night, the long-suffering Brady fans finally had something to really cheer about and Pfiefer said that she loved giving that moment back to the community of about 400 strong that had supported her and her teammates through thick and thin. "They all supported us," she said. "Even when we weren't doing so well, they still supported us. It feels just as good to them as it does us to see our dreams come true." In the first quarter, the Lady Eagles (13-9) snuck up on No. 5-ranked Stapleton-McPherson County (20-2) to take a 10-4 lead after Courtney Widick and Pfeifer made consecutive three-pointers. Although Brady's defense was strong throughout the game, its offense sputtered in the second quarter and that allowed the Cyclones to get within 16-15 at halftime. It almost seemed inevitable that SMC would overtake the Eagles and then pull away. "We did some good things in the first half but we were too aggressive on offense," said Brady coach Darren Tobey. "We were making just one pass and then shooting it." The Lady Cyclones got the lead back in the opening minute of the third quarter on a bucket by Julia Hauser. But that was when the Lady Eagles started to put the clamps on. Brady took a 25-17 lead when Scarrow hit a three with 1:43 left in the third. Neither team scored again for the rest of the quarter and the Eagles had an eight-point lead going into the fourth. The first possession of the fourth quarter was a sign that it was indeed Brady's night as Kaiti Black recovered a loose ball and put it in for a layup to make it a ten-point game. It wasn't until there was 3:16 left that SMC broke its long scoring drought when Ashley Bessmer knocked down a three that made it 31-20. The Cyclones got some help down the stretch from the Lady Eagles missing their free throws. But the closest Stapleton-McPherson County could get was six points, which was the final margin and Brady held on for its historic victory. Tobey said the key to holding SMC scoreless for nearly 12 minutes was his team's ablilty to cut off the basket and prevent looks from close-in. "We just played good defense," he said. "We made them pick up their dribble earlier than when they wanted to and we forced them to the outside." "That's what we play. If we play defense, we're hard to beat. We did a great job in the second half of moving our feet. We made just enough plays to win." The Eagles came into the D1-11 subdistrict as the No. 3-seed behind Maxwell and Wauneta-Palisade. Wauneta-Palisade is about on the same level as Brady, talentwise, so it wasn't a big surprise when the Lady Eagles beat the Broncos in the subdistrict semifinals on Feb. 16. Two days later, they defeated Maxwell in the D1-11 finals and while the Wildcats had somewhat of an edge with six-foot junior Kassie Schuett, it still wasn't a huge upset when Brady won 46-40. Then on Friday, few thought that the Eagles had a chance against No. 5 Stapleton-McPherson County. But once again, Brady outplayed its opponent and Tobey says those three wins show that the Lady Eagles made it to Lincoln with their work ethic. "They worked really hard to get this berth," Tobey said. "We aren't the best team ever. But they work the hardest out of any that I've coached." Stapleton-McPherson County 6 9 2 13 - 30 Brady 10 6 9 11 - 36 Stapleton-McPherson County (30)-Emily Donohoe 2, Shelby Klosen 2, Ashley Bessmer 9, Julia Hauser 8, Chrystina Contreras 9 Brady (36)-Megan Pfeifer 4, Danielle Gutherless 2, Shaunna Scarrow 4, Megan Polt 8, Kaiti Black 4, Courtney Widick 10, Jessica Schrad 4 Free Throws: SMC 6-15, B 9-22; Three Point Goals: SMC 2 (Bessmer 2), B 3 (Pfeifer, Scarrow, Widick)
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