CLARKSON — Down by six points in the third quarter, Pope John Central Catholic stormed back to defeat Lindsay Holy Family 59 to 47 in the championship game of the Girls D2-5 Sub-District.
By virtue of the victory, Pope John will face Ewing Friday night with a state tournament berth on the line. The game will be played at 7 p.m. at Battle Creek High School.
A matchup against Ewing was far from the minds of the Lady Crusaders Thursday night as the Bulldogs had upset on their minds.
For the first two quarters, Pope John struggled to get a lead and went into halftime down 22 to 19.
“The first half was not what we expected,” said Coach Seth Kallhoff. “but the girls came out of the locker room at halftime with a whole new demeanor and they took care of business.”
At the start of the third quarter, Tessa Kurtenbach made a three-point play to give the Bulldogs a six-point lead. They would hold the lead for much of the quarter before Pope John put together a string of points. A trey by Tracey Eischeid started the run followed by back-to-back baskets by Megan Veik which gave Pope John a 33 to 32 lead with 1:55 left. A trey by Kasi Stoltz pushed the lead to 36 to 32 at the end of the quarter.
