Lawrenceburg’s strong finish earns them a spot in the championship

In the first contest of last night’s sectional 29 round two games, the Connersville Lady Spartans and the Lawrenceburg Lady Tigers faced off for a chance to play in the championship game this evening. The Lady Tigers fell behind early to Connersville who went up 17-6 after the first eight minutes of play. Lawrenceburg was able to claw their way back over the next two periods. They overcame the early run by CHS and made their way into the championship after shutting down Connersville’s offense for seven minutes and 50 seconds in the fourth quarter Lawrenceburg claimed a 12-point victory and earned themselves a spot in tonight’s championship game against Rushville. A sectional 29 champion will be crowned this evening, the tipoff is a 7:30 at Rushville’s Memorial Gym.

Connersville pulled out to an early lead over the Lady Tigers after dropping 17-points in the first period. Hailey Sembach led the charge scoring six, Sara Ruble and Addison Jones each added four in the frame, while Lawrenceburg was only able to put six-points on the board and finished the quarter 11-points behind CHS. The second quarter was a reversal of the prior frame with the Lady Tigers posting 17-points. Aubree LaBazzo put up seven of those, with Lizzie Redar adding six and Natalie Knigga scoring the other four-points for Lawrenceburg. Connersville scored 10-points in the quarter on five field goals, four-points from Abbie Schwartz led the Lady Spartans in the frame. The score at halftime was Connersville 27 Lawrenceburg 23.

The third quarter began with a LaBazzo basket, and a Redar put back from an offensive rebound that tied the game up. Ruble and Jacey Wilhelm scored for Connersville to pull back ahead. The period ended with Ruble and Redar each scoring for their respective squads, and CHS was ahead after three quarters 34-31.

A Redar three-point basket tied the game up to start the final period. It also started an 18-0 run for the Lady Tigers with the senior taking over them game and scoring 12-points for Lawrenceburg in the final frame. The Lady Tigers defense came alive and held Connersville scoreless while taking a 49-34 lead. It wasn’t until the final seconds of the game when a three pointer finally landed for CHS to prevent a complete shutout in the frame. Lawrenceburg won the game with a score of 49-37.