COLONY — Crest High ended a 20-year drought with a party Friday evening.
The Lady Lancers finished off their first winning season since 2004, and their first Three Rivers League championship since 2001 with a 45-24 romp over visiting Yates Center.
Not only that, but Crest (14-5) went unbeaten in league this year.
“Before the season, our goal was just to have a winning record,” Crest head coach Steve Zimmerman said. “But as we kept playing, we kept winning. A lot was luck in that we avoided injuries.
“But there’s just absolutely no quit and no panic in this team,” he continued. “There were a couple of games where we were down by two or three points late, and they came through.”
There was no such drama on Friday, against a young Yates Center team that was even more shorthanded than usual.
With the flu bug ravaging the Wildcat roster, Yates Center played Friday with only five girls on the active roster.
Yates Center head coach Kevin Brown winced at pretty much every collision on the court, for fear one of his players would have to exit.
Crest broke out quickly, leading 14-1 after one quarter, as Zimmerman emptied his bench early and often.
Still, Yates Center put forth a valiant effort in defeat. After the slow start, the Wildcats played relatively evenly with the Lady Lancers. Crest outscored Yates Center 31-23 over the final three periods. Crest led 19-8 at halftime and 32-14 after three.
“If you’d have told me that’s how we’d play, I’d take it in a second,” Brown admitted. “Not only did we have only five girls able to play, they’re not completely healthy.
“Crest was very nice about it,” Brown continued. “They could have done more things to increase the pressure. But they showed good sportsmanship, and we appreciate that.”
Kayla Hermreck led Crest with 11 points, followed by Kinley Edgerton with eight and Aylee Beckmon and Hanna Schmidt with seven apiece.
Sophomore Kinley Morrison gave her team a lift, scoring 17 of Yates Center’s points.
HERMRECK and Beckmon reflected on the team’s league title.
