When it comes to winning regional titles, nothing has came easy for the Marissa-Coulterville Lady Meteors the past two years. Despite battling through two dramatic regional finals, Marissa-Coulterville now has back-to-back regional titles.
Last year, Kara Wine hit a last-second game winning shot to give the Lady Meteors their first ever regional title. Thursday night, Marissa-Coulterville held off a tough Shawnee squad for an exciting 47-45 win in the Steeleville 1A Regional final.
“So far, these regional wins have been almost too dramatic for me,” said Marissa-Coulterville coach Dan Lehman. “Nothing has came easy for us all year, so why expect anything else. Shawnee is a good team and Kaylee Boston is just tough as nails. They just kept plugging away at us but we found a way to hold on late, something we haven’t done well this year.”
Despite being sick, Chelsea Weekley played through the aches and pains to score 18 points and basically will her team to the win.
“Chelsea was sick all last night and she didn’t think she could come back in the second half,” said Lehman. “She did a good job of staying hydrated and playing through the illness. She was an animal when we put her back in.”
Weekley, who was still feeling sick after the game, didn’t want Thursday to be her final high school game.
“I was really tired at halftime,” said Weekley. “I’m just really glad to have my teammates there to back me up.”
Weekley got the Lady Meteors off to a fast start, scoring six points in the opening quarter. Marissa-Coulterville finished the first quarter on an 8-2 scoring run to grab a 12-8 lead.
Both teams went on scoring runs in the second quarter, as neither one was able to take control of the game.
Shawnee opened the second period with a 5-2 run to close within a point, 14-13.
The Lady Meteors answered with a 7-0 run to push their advantage up to 21-13. Weekley was once again the force behind Marissa-Coulterville’s attack, scoring six more points.
Shawnee closed out the first half by scoring the final five points as the gap closed to 21-18 at the break.
The Lady Reds shot the ball slightly better than Marissa-Coulterville in the third quarter, making 5-of-10 shots compared to 4-of-11 for the Lady Meteors.
But Marissa-Coulterville’s pressure defense was the difference, as Shawnee turned the ball over seven times. Senior Corey Pitchford led the defense effort with numerous steals that directly led to points on the other end. Marissa outscored Shawnee 11-10 in the third for a 32-28 lead heading into the fourth.
“When Corey plays well, we have a chance to beat anyone,” added Lehman. “She took care of the basketball and was just excellent on defense.”
Shawnee closed to within two points of the lead five different times in the final eight minutes but couldn’t quite find a way over the hump.
A big reason was the play of junior Kendra Goss, who was playing in only her third game of the season due to stress fractures in her back. Goss scored eight points in the fourth to help her team hold off a late surge from Shawnee. Goss finished with 10 points.
“We were really trying to limit her minutes but she has been playing so well,” said Lehman about Goss. “It took her a while to get going tonight but I am real happy for her. She has been dying to play this year.”
Kaylee Boston finished with 21 points to pace Shawnee.
With the win, Marissa-Coulterville advanced to the Carrollton Sectional to face state-ranked Winchester.
Advancing to sectional in the three-point show down were Katelyn Thies (Trico), Taylor Ellis (Shawnee), Jill Winkelman (Steeleville) and Kaylee Boston (Shawnee).
Shawnee 52, Steeleville 39
Shawnee advanced to the regional final by rallying to outscore the host Steeleville Lady Warriors 20-5 in the fourth quarter for a 52-39 victory Wednesday night.
Steeleville led 11-8 at the end of the first quarter but Shawnee fought back to take a 22-18 halftime lead.
The Lady Warriors would outpoint Shawnee 16-10 in the third for a 34-32 lead heading into the fourth.
Turnovers were the difference in the final quarter as Shawnee’s full-court pressure caused many problems for Steeleville.
Natalie Ruebke and Alex Gale each had 13 points to lead the Lady Warriors.
Marissa-Coulterville 66, Chester 40
Marissa-Coulterville outscored Chester 39-22 in the second half to pull away for a 66-40 victory Wednesday evening in the Steeleville 1A Regional semifinals.
The Lady Meteors jumped out to a 17-7 first quarter lead and held a 28-17 advantage at the intermission.
Marissa-Coulterville then used runs of 25-16 and 14-6  to ice away the 26-point decision.
Chelsea Weekley scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Lady Meteors, while teammate Christa Hill had 13 points.
Hilary Best led Chester with 16 points.
With the loss, Chester finished its season with a record of 8-15.