St. Vincent ends Lady Tigers’ season

NEELYVILLE — The Neelyville Lady Tigers learned firsthand why the St. Vincent Lady Indians might be the best girls basketball team in Southeast Missouri.

St. Vincent took an early lead and never looked back as the Lady Indians powered their way to a 64-39 win over Neelyville Saturday in the Class 2 state quarterfinals at Neelyville High School.

It is the first trip to the final four in school history for the Lady Indians.

Addison Couch hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring and give the Lady Tigers a short-lived 3-0 lead, but St. Vincent (26-3) used a 20-3 run and capitalized on some Neelyville foul trouble to take control of the game quickly and lead 20-8 by the end of the opening period.

Despite the loss, Lady Tigers coach Becky Hale had words of praise for her squad, which ended the season 24-6.

“I'm really proud of the girls,” Hale said. “We got down early, had a little bit of foul trouble and couldn't get it straightened out. But they kept fighting hard — they scrapped and just did whatever they could to keep it close. St Vincent hit their shots outside and they were hitting inside as we were trying to get the ship right.”

Neelyville did not give up, cutting the deficit to 25-14 on Maci Andrews' basket, but the Lady Indians responded with an 11-5 spurt, taking a 36-19 lead on Allie Patrick's 3-pointer late in the first half.

Parker Ernst had a strong third quarter, scoring five points in the period as the Lady Tigers went to the fourth quarter down 50-36. However, St. Vincent held the hosts to just a basket and a free throw by Ernst in the final period to pull away at the end.

Ernst led Neelyvlle with eight points, while Madi Prosser added seven and Couch finished with six in her final high school game.

Brie Rubel paced the Lady Indians with 22 points, while Patrick added 16, Rylee Robinson had nine and Kate Rubel finished with eight.

Saturday's game also was the swan song for the Lady Tigers senior quintet of Couch, Haylyn Crockett, Jade Crosswhite, Makynli Day and Alaina Prince, who helped Neelyville to three district titles during their time on the high school hardwood.

“The seniors got to the semifinals of the district tournament their freshman year, and then we've won districts the last three years,” Hale said. “I'm really proud of what they've accomplished. They did everything I asked them to and then some. We're proud of them.”

On the other side of the coin, Neelyville can return a talented group next season, including Ernst, Prosser and freshman Anna Lack, as the squad looks to win four district titles in a row.

“I told the seniors 'you want to leave a program better than what you came into it,'” Hale said. “That's what everybody tries to do — and they've done that. I'm sure these next-year seniors are going to do the same thing.”