At home against the Blackcats on Dec. 14, the Tigers won 71-44 after leading by as many as 30 points.
In the rematch Saturday in the consolation final of the Lutheran South Tournament, Festus grew its lead to 41-19 by halftime before beating Herculaneum 71-46.
The one aspect of the second game that was different was the third quarter. The Tigers dominated the Blackcats 17-8 in the third in December, but Herky came alive after the intermission of the tournament game, outscoring Festus 15-2.
Junior guard Emma Vaughn actually started the Blackcats’ rally with the last basket of the first half. That triggered a 14-0 run that pulled Herculaneum to within eight points of the Tigers, who missed about a dozen shots in a row from the field before junior center Abby McMillin broke the drought with 1:55 left in the third.
McMillin (6-3) is emerging as one of the top bigs in the county and finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots.
So what did Herculaneum head coach Riley Blair tell his team at halftime?
“We made some adjustments defensively and I thought our kids answered our challenge,” Blair said. “We told them the game wasn’t over and they had to go out (in the second half) and act like it’s 0-0. We executed those defensive adjustments.”
The Blackcats got a basket by senior forward Angelica Wooten and a free throw from junior guard Taylor Metcalf to close within 43-36 going into the fourth. It seemed they would carry that momentum into the final quarter and give the deeper Tigers a run for their money.
But no player in the Jefferson County Activities Association plays harder than Festus senior guard Jenna Oetting. With the Blackcats crashing all around the Tigers in the third, Oetting was dribbling quickly on the offensive end and was tripped up from behind. She landed hard on both knees and had to come out of the game.
Oetting scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter. Game over.
“I was mad because they didn’t call a foul, but it is what it is and we went on a good run in the fourth,” said Oetting, who scored a team-high 21 points. “Coach always says, ‘Keep shooting’ and my shots weren’t falling in the third quarter but they eventually did in the fourth. I was feeling every shot I took.”
After sinking a 3-point basket to start the last stanza, Oetting outhustled everyone the length of the floor and was sent flying on her stomach under the Herky goal after scoring and getting fouled. She made the free throw and pushed the Festus lead to 49-36 with 7:30 in the game.
“You can’t give her any positive momentum because if you do, she goes with it,” Blair said of Oetting. “When they’re shooting that well, they’re a hard team to beat. We battled back, but they went on a run and got back up by 20 points.”
During volleyball season, Festus junior Bria Garmon is usually the Tiger who puts the hammer down offensively. But on the hardwood, Garmon likes to dish out the passes to Oetting, McMillin and junior guard Abby Rickermann. Garmon had eight assists against the Blackcats. She assisted on a give-and-go on a Rickermann bucket to give the Tigers a 60-36 advantage in the fourth.
“I feel like we’ve only scratched the surface to what we can do,” Oetting said. “There’s more than half the season left, and I think we’ll put on a good showing.”
Sophomore forward Jessica Hebenstreit and senior forward Allison Kuykendall were given the task of guarding Herculaneum sophomore forward Paige Fowler, who leads the Blackcats with 15 points per game. Fowler was held to a point under her season average.
In the first half, the only baskets Herky scored were from shovel passes or loose balls. Festus head coach Chris Ellis said he was pleased with his defense at that point.
“Herculaneum plays with a lot of energy and spirit,” Ellis said. “They have a lot of kids who care about playing basketball, and if you’re not going to outplay them, they’re going to get you. I called a timeout with 14 seconds to go in the first half to try and run a play and get the last shot. Well, we gave it right to them and they scored and took the momentum to halftime. We came out in the second half and missed a dozen shots in a row and they were right back in it. Fortunately we got some steals, stops and scored baskets.”
None of the other Blackcats are close to averaging 10 or more points. Blair said that has to change for his team to compete on a nightly basis. Herky free-throw shooters struggled with making the first shot of two from the foul line.
“Taylor’s (Metcalf) done a good job the last few games with the ball in her hand,” Blair said. “We didn’t have her the first four or five games, and we’ve got other kids who are playing well, but we’ve got to get the ball in the basket.”
Fort Zumwalt West beat the host Lancers 57-49 in the tournament championship on Saturday afternoon.
Boyer nearing 1,000 points
De Soto senior Kendall Boyer is averaging 19.2 points and 14.4 points this season for the Dragons, who have a record of 8-6 overall and 0-1 in the Jefferson County Activities Association large-schools.
Boyer, a 5-11 forward, set De Soto’s school record last season for rebounding average (13) in a season and is 245 career boards away from reaching 1,000. She’s also closing in on 1,000 career points with 880. Boyer has been a first-team all-league selection two years in a row.