Cardinals Flight Stopped at State With Bulldogs Bite!

Humphrey's Lady Bulldogs were able to start out fast and open up the first quarter with an 18-5 run. Senior, Megan Schneider, knocked down a big three-pointer to open scoring up for St. Mary's and take the lead just seconds into the first quarter. Humphrey then scored 12 unanswered points as they jumped out to a nice lead and never trailed again.

St. Mary's fought back over and over cutting the lead down several times in their first state tournament appearance since the 1980 season. Jessi Pongratz nailed a bucket with a little over three minutes to play in the third quarter, pulling St. Mary's within eight points (32-24). Humphrey wasn't a stranger to the state tournament. In their fourth showing since 2008, the Lady Bulldogs knew what it takes and advanced to second round action with a 56-39 win.

Humphrey's, state scoring leader, Alyssa Frauendorfer, made a bucket late in the second quarter and then was held from scoring until 3:20 left in the fourth quarter. Jessi Simons and Mackenzie Wecker played great defense against one of the state's premier players. Frauendorfer is a hard player to stop, but the Cardinals did it. With their scoring leader shut down, teammates from Humphrey stepped up and scored repeatedly to take the opening round win.

The Schneider sisters, Megan and Bridget led St. Mary's in scoring and assists with 10 and nine points. They each had four assists. Justine Blumenstock controlled the boards for SMH with seven rebounds. Jessi Simons was able to steal the ball three times from Humphrey. This was a complete team effort and good team experience while opening the door for future teams to follow and hopefully continue the path on the road to state.

St. Mary's Lady Cards finish the season at 21-5.