Bloomfield gives Scott City a scare but comes up short in district final

David Jenkins/SEMO News Service Photo Erica Wyatt attempts to hit the ball past Scott City's Katie Hogan Tuesday night in Bloomfield during the Class 2, District 2 championship game.

BLOOMFIELD-- The Class 2 No. 1 ranked Scott City Lady Rams survived a first set scare and defeated the Lady Wildcats of Bloomfield 25-23, 25-15 to capture the Class 2 District 2 championship Tuesday in Bloomfield.

The first set of Tuesday's championship match was a back and fourth struggle, something both coaches attributed to Scott City mistakes.

"Our girls went out and knew they had nothing to lose and that they (Scott City) had everything to lose," Lady Wildcats head coach Starla Pulley said. "Our girls went out and gave it all they had." Pulley noted that you have to used whatever miscues by the Lady Rams you can to be competitive.

"You have to use what you can against them, any mistakes," she said. "You have to have the momentum of those things on your side against them."

Scott City (30-2-1) head coach Haley Jennings felt service errors were her squads' main fault in the first set.

"Our biggest mistake was six serving errors," Jennings said. "You can not do that against a team like Bloomfield."

Jennings pointed out that the Lady Wildcats had improved throughout the season. Bloomfield (25-5) had won 12 contests coming into the championship match, including their semifinal victory over Puxico.

"We knew they had gotten better later in the season," she said. "They won the Stoddard County Tournament and beat Bell City. We knew we had to play coming into this game."

Although Pulley agreed that the Lady Wildcats had improved, she felt the Lady Rams offense was just too much.

"Our girls are a lot stronger now than we were in the beginning of the season," she said. "Our hitting is much better as well. We knew their offense was going to be a lot to deal with. We would have liked to had more blocks, but our girls did a great job saving balls on defense."

Jennings said although her team let the pressure get to them early, they collected themselves to finish strong, cruising to a 25-15 win in the second set to close the match.

"I think nerves got to us a little early on," she said. "We had some hitting and passing mistakes. But I told the girls that we just had to play our game. We know how to play and what we are capable of. We just had to prove it and get out of our heads. We relaxed and started playing."

A few Scott City players shared their excitement after the game.

"It is very exciting," Brooke Simpson said. "That first game was very nerve-racking but that second game we got a little more comfortable with everything. Bloomfield did a great job. They played on their home court, everybody was pumped, the fans, the players, everybody."

"Amazing," Stephanie Essner responded to how the district title felt. "We had a little struggle in the beginning, through the whole thing I guess but we pulled through and it feels really good again."

Bloomfield's Lindsey Levitt noted her team gave their all against a tough Lady Rams squad.

"Scott City is an amazing team, they always give it a good run," said Levitt. "But I am proud of my girls, we came out and gave them a game."

The Scott City players were quick to say they can not get to far ahead of themselves, as they playoffs begin Saturday.

"I know just in practice we are going to have to work really hard because from here on out it is going to be tough competition," said Simpson. "We're not going to get a token to the Final Four this year. I think if we work hard we can make it there again.

The Lady Rams Katie Hogan pointed out the importance of staying in the moment.

"We have got to go one game at a time," Hogan said. "We can't look at state because if we do we won't focus on that game. I think we were focused a little bit on state that first set and we weren't focused on the match."

Jennings said although her squad looks good, communication could improve.

"We can always be better," she said. "I am pleased with what we have done and are doing. We need a little more communication between passer, setter, and hitter. We just want to get a little better every time.

"We're looking forward to Saturday and hopefully, next week."