It was win or go home time for competitions on the hardwoods with the start of sub-state play. The Lady Jays finished with a 12-8 overall record to end the regular season, which tied the mark of the Hiawatha Red Hawks with both teams vying for the fifth-place seed in the sub-state bracket. The Jays lost the higher seed to a coin flip and traveled to Riley County on Monday, Feb. 27, to take on the Falcons.

Sabetha blanked their host in the first quarter and held a modest lead at halftime, but they were outscored in the second half and shutout in the fourth quarter. The Lady Jays fell on the road in the opening round of the tournament — on a last-second, buzzer-beating shot — 26-24.

Junior Alexia Hayden came out in the first quarter, shooting the lights out from behind the arc, sinking three treys and accounting for all of her team’s offense in the period. Sabetha used their potent zone defense to keep the Falcons out of the lane and scoreless through the first eight minutes. Sabetha led 9-0 after one quarter of play.

Both teams posted 7 points in the second quarter and Sabetha maintained a 9-point advantage at the intermission. Senior Jessica Gruber took the reins in the period and picked apart Riley County’s defense to score 6 points for her team. Senior Halle Scoby was one of two from the stripe, and the Jays took a 16-7 lead into the locker room at the half.

“We got off to such great start and played such fantastic defense all year long that it made it even more heartbreaking to lose the way we did,” said Head Coach Nate Bauman.

The Falcons came out in the second half and buried a couple of big triples in the third quarter to help shrink the deficit. Sabetha would be outscored 11-8 in the third and saw their lead dwindle to 6 points. Senior Mary Lukert had been blanketed by the Falcon defense and was shutout in the first half, but posted 4 points in the third period. Gruber and Hayden each had a bucket in the effort, and Sabetha led 24-18 headed into the final stanza.

“Riley County is a good team who also played good defense and they hit a tough shot,” Coach Bauman said. “It was a tough way to lose a game and to finish a season for sure. Sometimes, as painful as it is, you just have to tip your cap to a player who makes a great play.”

Try as they might, the Lady Jays just could not get the ball through the net in the fourth quarter. Riley County chipped away their guests’ lead and trailed by 1 point, 23-24, with three minutes to play. Those closing minutes of play would be calculated and deliberate, with both teams managing the clock and looking to make a strike with each possession. Riley County had the ball with four seconds remaining. After a timeout, they inbounded the ball and found a crease in the defense and launched a shot. The rainbow arch fluttered to the hoop, and the shot was true to give the Falcons the win, 26-24.

“As disappointing as it was, this result certainly has no bearing on how I feel about this team and these seniors,” Coach Bauman said. “The seniors came in seven strong as freshmen, in my first year as head coach, and remained seven strong all four years, which is relatively rare in today’s state of high school athletics. They were all extremely selfless, took ownership of their progress and performance, stayed unified always, and played for a purpose larger than merely wins and losses.

“We had a great season, finishing 12-9 and third in an extremely difficult league this season, and finished 63-28 with a sub-state championship and a state runner-up finish in their four years. I am so proud of their successes, but I am more proud to be associated with such amazing young women. They are extremely coachable, are an absolute joy to be around and I will miss them terribly.”