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Summit girls hoops get what they want

Shauna Farnell

FARMER’S KORNER – The Summit High School basketball girls proved Tuesday night that when they want something badly enough, they can have it.

And it was obvious they really wanted their game against No. 2 Golden High School.

After making shot for shot against Golden in the first half, taking a 20-18 lead at the half, then leading 31-24 after the third quarter and overcoming a suspenseful draw with two minutes left to play, the Tigers won 40-38.



“These girls never settle,” said Summit coach Julie Norman. “They never come in and settle for mediocrity. Every time they push themselves a little bit more. They don’t want to be just an average team. They don’t want to be sitting at the bottom of the league. They want to fight, and they want to go out with a bang.”

The Tigers did just that with their regular season. Rather than falling behind and fighting back all game as they’ve done frequently this season, the Tigers led nearly all game Tuesday, and never let Golden pull ahead by more than two points. With two minutes left to play, Golden tied it up 38-38, and it looked for a moment as if Summit might be in trouble. Then, Shannon Buhler was fouled and, staring unblinkingly at the net, nailed two free shots and the Tigers held their ground for the remaining minute of play for the win.



“It sucks to be down by 20 at half, then have to catch up the whole game,” said Kelly Kastberg, who was Summit’s high scorer Tuesday with 12 points. “We’re just really happy. We were one step ahead of them. We played smart with the ball. It felt so good. Right now, we’re at our peak. Hopefully we’ll stay there and do really well at districts.”

The Tigers go into next week’s district tournament with a 4-5 league and 10-9 overall record. Summit’s first district game kicks off Monday, with opponent and location to be announced today, depending on other results from Tuesday’s games.

Along with leading its game against Golden, Summit also exhibited the skill and strength of a No. 1 team. Although some of the Tigers were nervous during the suspenseful moments of Tuesday’s game, others never doubted the win was on its way.

“I knew all of us had the right mind set and knew what we had to do to step it up and take the win home,” said senior Dolly Fiedelman, who had 10 points Tuesday. “It was really nice playing with the lead instead of having to catch up. It’s a lot easier that way, when the game’s in our control. This game meant a lot to us. We’re playing the best we can right now. It can only get better from here.”

Now that the girls are at their peak and have beaten Golden, which went into Tuesday’s game with a 6-2 league record, they feel anything is possible going into their district tournament, and know they can come up with three wins throughout the week if they play the way they did Tuesday.

“We knew (Golden) was beatable,” said Megan Skulski, who had four points Tuesday. “We knew it was a big game. We had it in our minds all day and came out strong. We held it together, and stayed together as a team, which is really great.”


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