New Haven was one win away from a girls basketball state championship last year.
The Lady Shamrocks (20-10) hope to take care of their unfinished business this week at the MSHSAA Championships in Columbia.
Playing last Saturday in the Class 2 quarterfinals at the Farmington Civic Center, New Haven advanced with a 58-56 overtime victory over Neelyville.
New Haven junior guard Rachel Steinhoff made a pair of free throws with 5.1 seconds left in overtime to give the Lady Shamrocks the lead for good.
“Rachel hit two big free throws in overtime to give us the win,” said New Haven Head Coach Doug Peirick. “Neelyville got the ball in-bounds, but we forced them into shooting about a three-quarters court shot that fell way short to end the game.”
New Haven takes on Marceline (27-3) in the Class 2 semifinals Thursday at noon at the Hearnes Center in Columbia.
The Lady Shamrocks trailed Neelyville throughout the first half, but came back in the third quarter.
“It was an exciting game,” said New Haven Head Coach Doug Peirick. “We didn’t play real well in the first half. In fact, we were down by nine points about midway through the second quarter. We were able to cut into that by the end of the half, going into halftime down by six points.”
Neelyville (22-9) held leads of 13-12 after one quarter and 28-22 at halftime.
“Too many turnovers and offensive rebounds allowed hurt us the most in the first half,” Peirick said.
The Lady Shamrocks made their run in the third quarter, outscoring Neelyville 18-10, to grab a 40-38 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
“In the second half, we came out with a little more defensive pressure and were able to get a five-count to turn them over,” Peirick said. “Kierstin Monzyk scored eight straight points to get us the lead and from there it just went back and forth. Neither team held a lead of more than four points.”
The game was tied 50-50 at the end of regulation.
New Haven outscored Neelyville in the extra session, 8-6.
Emily Kallmeyer led the Lady Shamrocks in the scoring column with 16 points to go with eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
“Emily scored 10 of her game-high 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime,” Peirick said.
Rachel Steinhoff finished the game with 11 points and eight rebounds.
“They ran a box-and-one on Rachel all night,” Peirick said. “That forced us to get the ball to other girls to score. We were able to do that pretty well for most of the night.”
Megan Shockley collected nine points and four rebounds.
Kierstin Monzyk added eight points and three assists.
Stephanie Scheer registered six points, four rebounds and four assists.
Kayla Meyer and Stephanie Gerling both had four points. Meyer added five rebounds. Gerling had four rebounds and two assists.
New Haven shot 50 percent from the field and was 11-14 from the free-throw line.
Brooke Sheppard led Neelyville with 16 points. Kayla Maupin added 10 points.
Class 2 Semifinals
The Class 2 girls semifinals will be played Thursday afternoon at the Hearnes Center.
New Haven and Marceline get things started at noon.
The second semifinal game features Crane (28-3) against Skyline (25-6) at 1:40 p.m.
“At this point, I don’t know much about Marceline, except they have three girls averaging in double figures in scoring,” Peirick said Monday morning. “I know nothing yet about the other two teams.”
Marceline advanced to Columbia with a 41-37 victory over Sturgeon in the quarterfinals.
In the sectional round, Marceline whipped Silex, 60-41. Silex was the top-ranked team in the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Class 2 state poll.
The Lady Tigers’ three losses have come against Paris (57-55), Salisbury (55-40) and Glasgow (41-36).
Kendra Gladbach, a 5-7 senior guard, averages 14.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 steals per game.
Morgan McCormick, a 5-8 junior forward, averages 14 points and 8.4 rebounds.
Madison McCormick, a 5-7 senior forward, averages 10.1 points and seven rebounds.
Crane owns a pair of close playoff wins, 57-55 over Pierce City in the sectional round and 69-66 over Crocker in the quarterfinals.
Skyline defeated Windsor in the sectional round 47-38 and Maysville in the quarterfinals, 61-33.
The Class 2 girls third-place game is scheduled for Friday at 5 p.m. at Mizzou Arena.
The Class 2 girls championship contest takes place Saturday at 5 p.m. at Mizzou Arena.
New Haven is one of two Four Rivers Conference girls teams that will be playing in this week’s state tournament.
St. James (25-4) will play in the Class 3 semifinals against Cameron (19-11) Thursday at 5 p.m. at Mizzou Arena.
A third FRC team, Sullivan, plays in Class 4 sectional action Wednesday against Bolivar at Missouri S&T in Rolla at 7:45 p.m.
Half of the FRC girls teams (New Haven, Hermann, St. James and Sullivan) won district titles this season.
Hermann was eliminated by North Tech in the Class 3 sectional round.
