Harvest Christian finishes fourth in Class 1A
NORMAL - The end result may not have been what the Harvest Christian girls basketball team expected out of this weekend but Lions coach Rich DeTamble and his players know it bodes well for the future.
Playing in its first state final tournament, Harvest will bring home a fourth place trophy after falling to defending state champion Hardin Calhoun 72-51 Saturday in the Class 1A third place game at Redbird Arena.
"It's been a superb ride with this group," said DeTamble, whose team graduates only Katie Kaldenberger. "We totally exceeded where we thought we'd go. To bring home the first state team trophy is something special. I couldn't be prouder of these kids and I anticipate to be back here next year."
Harvest (29-5) had no answer for Calhoun's 6-foot-2 senior Grace Baalman Saturday.
Baalman, a unanimous all-state selection who will play softball on scholarship at Kentucky, scored a Class 1A state tournament record 40 points, which is also a Calhoun school record. Baalman, who struck out a state record 39 batters in a softball state tournament game last spring, was 16 of 18 from the field Saturday with the large majority of those 16 field goals being layups as she towered over everyone on the court.
"We wanted to come out today and go out with a bang," said Baalman, who also had 10 rebounds.
It was the second game in a row the Lions had trouble stopping a taller all-state player as Baalman gave Harvest the same matchup problems Annawan's Jayde VanHyfte did on Friday in the semifinals.
"The last two games we had some big kids who were tough on us," acknowledged DeTamble.
Harvest matched the Warriors (28-6) up and down the floor early. In fact, the Lions led 14-9 with 1:59 left in the first quarter after 2 free throws from Gracie Ozburn.
But with Baalman scoring 11 points Calhoun, which scored 52 points in the paint, went on a 14-0 run to open up a 23-14 lead with 5:23 left in the first half, leaving the Lions an uphill battle the rest of the way.
Harvest trailed 33-25 at halftime and the closest it could come in the second half would be 7, 35-28, on a 3-pointer from junior all-stater Alyssa Iverson early in the third quarter.
Calhoun's biggest lead was 22, 62-40, with 5:01 left in the game.
Iverson had a superb game for the Lions, scoring 26 points, but while she recognized her personal accomplishments this season - all-state and reaching 1,000 career points - she deflected the credit to the team.
"It's a cool accomplishment for me but it was important for us to get here as a team," she said. "You can't get here as an individual."
Junior Isamar Garcia added 8 points and sophomores Ozburn and Jenn Kasper had 7 each for the Lions, who now look to next year.
"The sky is the limit for this group," said DeTamble, whose program will likely move up to Class 2A next year. "They see where they want to go and having a confident team means so much. We don't need to regroup. Our feeder system is second to none. The Harvest Christian Lions are here to stay."