Bearcats return favor, net title

Updated: March 23, 2011 1:58PM

The "Revenge Tour," as Wheeler coach Mark Bruner called it, is complete.

The Bearcats evened the score with Hanover Central for last year's sectional championship defeat by clinching the 2011 Class 2A, Sectional 33 crown with a 42-34 victory.

"I thought our kids just had the will to win," Bruner said after the game. "We missed a few free throws down the stretch but our kids just kept fighting for the ball. They just refused to lose."

Down by three in the final minute, a 3-point attempt from Hanover's Tiphani Ward rimmed out, with Wheeler pulling down the rebound. By the time the Wildcats got the ball back, they were down by six, thanks to two key offensive rebounds off missed free throws that allowed the Bearcats to extend the lead and kept the ball out of Hanover's hands.

"You can't score if you don't have the ball," said Hanover coach Doug Nelson. "We had ourselves in a position where we had to foul. We got what we wanted with the missed free throw, but you have to get the rebound."

Blayr Poston again was the architect of the Hanover offense, scoring a team-high 19 points-including 14 of her team's 16 points in the second half. But after Friday's semifinal win against Bishop Noll, Nelson said other players were going to need to contribute-and that didn't happen down the stretch.

"We're going to have to develop some other players," he said. "Today, it showed. In a pressure situation, you need someone to step up, but a lot of our players stood around and waited for Blayr to do something."

Wheeler's offense was driven by the scoring of freshman Nickole Finch, who scored 10 points in the first half en route to a career-high 21 points.

"She's a special kid," said Bruner. "She's been coming along for us as one of our go-to players. Nickole has the mentality to score; she's not timid about shooting the basketball at all."

Wheeler jumped out to a 10-0 lead thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from Finch in the first quarter. Hanover fought back in the second with an 11-0 run that extended into the third period. After their hot start, the Bearcats struggled in the second half, missing their first eight field goal attempts.

Poston scored seven straight points at the end of the third quarter, putting Hanover up 29-25 heading into the fourth. But the Wildcats' momentum was quelled by Wheeler outscoring Hanover 17-5 in the final eight minutes.

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