MELVERN – Unfortunately, all Cinderella stories do not have happy endings.
Such was the case for the Altoona-Midway Lady Jets, who advanced to the second round of the Class 1A-II Sub-State bracket here Monday night, only to be incontrovertibly banished by second-seeded Marais des Cygnes Valley.
The AMHS girls, who soundly defeated Southern Coffey County last week to advance past the opening round of postseason play for the first time in more than a decade, saw their season come to an end as the Lady Trojans rolled to an 81-15 victory in the one-sided semifinal contest.
MDCV, 20-4, advances to the sub-state championship, where they will square off against upstart Elyria Christian (12-12), which upset third-seed Lebo 44-34 to reach the finals.
The Lady Trojans and Elyria Christian will meet Saturday, March 7, at Hartford to decide who will advance to the Class 1A-II State Tournament next week.
For Altoona-Midway, the curtain closes on a season in which the Lady Jets finished with a 6-19 overall record, including the program’s first postseason victory since 2014.
“Our season may have ended tonight, but the girls kept up their spirits and never gave up,” said AMHS head coach Jessica Porter.
“We knew we were up against it tonight against Marais des Cygnes,” she noted. “They are a very talented team. They have a big presence under the basket and can shoot lights out on the perimeter, too.
“We wish them the best of luck the rest of the tournament.”
Despite the lopsided score, Porter was proud of her team’s improvement since the beginning of the season and also proud of their togetherness.
“The girls kept fighting and had good attitudes. We were even smiling and laughing despite the hard loss,” Porter said. “They did okay handling some of the pressure – and we’ve definitely come a long way since the last time we played them, when we only scored four points (MDCV beat the Lady Jets 67-4 back in December).”
Marais des Cygnes Valley wasted little time in displaying its absolute dominance in the contest. The Lady Trojans roared to a 33-2 lead after one period of play and increased that margin to 57-3 at halftime.
The Lady Jets best quarter was the third stanza, when they found the range for 10 of the 15 points they scored in the game.
“I was really happy that five different girls scored in this game,” Porter said. “Definitely one of the highlights was (senior) Ava (Tindle) scoring a three-pointer in the third quarter.”
Keyleigh Clines also connected on a trey in the third period. Clines and Mika Parsons each finished with four points to share team-high honors for the Lady Jets.
In addition to Tindle’s three points, AMHS also saw Jasa Pankaskie and Peyton Drake chip in two points apiece.
Gracen Stahl scorched the nets for 23 points to pace the Lady Trojans. Akyra Traver poured in 20 points for MDCV while Mady Rose fired in 17.
“Yes, this was a hard loss, but we knew it was going to be tough heading into the game,” Porter said. “These girls were able to win a postseason game this year, and they improved throughout the season. I was proud to be their coach.”