By Elizabeth Luke
The fourth-seeded Lady Trojans faced off against fifth-seeded Huntington Tuesday night in a hard-fought battle to open the Crossroads League Conference Tournament.
The Trojans entered the opening round with confidence after their dominating victory over the Foresters (67-41) the week before, but the Foresters clenched the 69-64 victory in the end, putting an unexpected finish to the Lady Trojans' season.
Taylor knew what to expect from Huntington after splitting two regular season games against them.
"(Sarah Miller-Jennings) was our main concern," said Head Coach Tena Krause. "She is a quick player, and brings energy to their team. She is their motor. She goes, then they all go"
The three-senior powerhouse led the Trojans as Erika Redweik dominated the court with 20 points and Tess Rudolph contributed 11 points and four assists. Erin Guarneri pulled out her eighth double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Trojans tore down 36 rebounds overall compared to the Foresters' 26.
Three minutes in, starting forward junior Shayna Wood was taken out of the game with an knee injury.
"Obviously when someone goes down, it has an emotional impact on your team, but I thought our other post players would step it up," Krause said. "We just don't have the depth in the post right now that we need to have. With Shayna (Wood) going out and (junior) Becca (Daniels) coming in, they were fully prepared to defend Becca after her 19 points against them last week."
As predicted, the two teams were an excellent match-up as the halftime score was 32-32. Both teams shot an identical 12 of 28 shots from the floor.
The rivaling teams traded the lead throughout the second half. Within the last four minutes, Guarneri and Daniels racked up their fourth foul each. Redweik came through with back-to-back clutch shots, gaining on the Foresters with a 62-63 game and 2:30 to spare. The Foresters sunk a 3-pointer by Greene, forcing a three point lead in the last minute, followed by two free throws on the next possession to claim the game.
As Krause reflects on their late-game philosophy, she said, "If you are talking about specifically the last play when we're down by three, we needed a 3-point shot. The play was for a three pointer, but we just did not follow through."
Krause said the main difference between Taylor and Huntington is the energy that the Foresters brought. Guarneri reflected on her last season in a Taylor uniform.
"We learned how to fight this season," she said. "We started very strong, but then had a rough few weeks during January that we were able to bounce back from during the last round of conference. I think our hard work really showed during that time; I just wish it could have prevailed a little longer."
Although the seniors did not expect their season to be brought to an abrupt halt, they and the team overall still have many accomplishments to be proud of. They finished their season with a 21-9 record and two seniors (Guarneri and Redweik) accomplishing all-conference team honors. These two seniors, along with Rudolph, have all had outstanding careers, each entering and exceeding the 1,000 point mark.
"The three seniors have started their whole career, and have fought hard for the success of the program," Krause said. "They are good people, but tonight was just not their night. It was a tough loss for them to lose at home, but these three seniors have contributed an awful lot to our program."
