Despite winning 12 of their last 14 games leading up to the Sectional round, the Lady Lancer varsity basketball team’s hopes at prolonging the post season were to put to halt at the hands of St. Joseph’s Academy, who defeated the team 47-65 on March 2 at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

A forceful offense led by juniors Maddie and Morgan Stock ceased the Lady Lancer’s defense early on, and strong post play by  6-3 center Sydney Stipanovich had crumbled their post defense.

Sophomore Hannah Finley was able to answer back for the Lady Lancers with a series of jump shots near the paint. However numerous turnovers continued hurt any hopes at breaking the Angel’s lead and St. Joes extended the lead to 34-20 by halftime.

Then, at the start of the second half, the Lady Lancer’s were able to earn second chance points despite the presence of Stipanovich inside,  and also looked to push the ball up the floor; however it was to no avail.

“During the first quarter we came out a little intimidated because they are so big, but after a little we realized that we could play with them. We just had to move the ball and move to get the shots we wanted,” junior Jordan Martin said.

St. Joe’s increased the lead to 20 points with just seven minutes remaining and from there basket’s alternated between both teams, allowing the point differential to stay consistent until the end of regulation.

Maddie Stock had led all scorers with a game-high 20 points, and Stipanovich added 16 points and 12 rebounds for St. Joes.

Martin led the Lady Lancers with 15 points and junior guard Kayla Hall added 11. Sophomore Hannah Finley chipped 10 points, and also had 12 rebounds.

With this, the Lady Lancer’s finished the season 17-9, and also added a Conference Co-Championship and District Championship to this season’s resume.

“I think [the season] went really well, especially the last half of the season. We played as a team,” Finley said.