Okoboji lost a hard-fought game in the first round of Regionals at Spirit Lake, 62-50 on Saturday night. Spirit Lake jumped out to a 12-5 lead, but a 6-0 Okoboji run, fueled by a 3-ponter from Riley Meyer would pull Okoboji within 12-11 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter would remain close, with the Indians grabbing a 19-13 lead but the Pioneers would again respond and trim that lead to 19-18 after three free throws by Ava Packebush and a put-back by Lexie Powers. Spirit Lake held a slim 26-25 lead before Zoe Ackerman would hit a three-pointer right before halftime to give the Indians a 29-25 lead. Okoboji would trim the lead to 32-30 on another three pointer from Riley Meyer with 5:00 left in the quarter but Spirit Lake would end the quarter on a 14-2 run to take a 46-32 lead into the final quarter. Okoboji, however, would not go away and quickly trim the lead to 48-40 after a free throw by Peyton Schmitz. Charlotte Pritchard hit a three pointer to give the Indians a 56-43 lead with 3:00 left. Okoboji would have one last rally as a three pointer by Lydia Bunde and a steal by Courtney Bockman that led to a free throw by Riley Meyer would cut the lead to 59-50, but the Indians would put the game away at the free throw line. Riley Meyer led Okoboji with 12 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists; Lydia Bunde added 10 points and Ava Packebush added 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists; Harper Rable added 7 rebounds. Zoe Ackerman led Spirit Lake with 18 points, Charlotte Pritchard and Claire Turner each added 12 points. Okoboji ends the season at 7-15 and says goodbye to three seniors, Courtney Bockman, Lydia Bunde and Ava Packebush. Spirit Lake improves to 15-5 and will host West Lyon on Wednesday in Regional Semifinal action.
Quotes from Coach Adams
“We are so proud of how this group fought and battled all night, just as they have done all season. We felt great at halftime and just had a bad finish to the end of the third quarter where Spirit Lake made some nice plays and baskets to pull ahead. As this team always does, though, we didn’t give up and battled all the way until the final horn. Riley had a great night and hit some big shots that kept us in the game; Ava had another really good game on both ends of the court and Lydia played one of her best games of the season. Courtney Bockman, Addison Johnson and Alyvia Plathe did a great job on the defensive end of the court for us with their constant ball pressure and Harper Rable was great on the glass. Our three seniors, Courtney, Lydia and Ava have been phenomenal servant leaders and players for our program and will be sorely missed next year. As we told the team after the game, the seniors set the bar extremely high for our younger players with how hard they competed and how they always put the team first. It was truly a blessing to coach this team all season long and their connectedness and unselfishness made it a joy to come to practice every day.”
