EAST LANSING, Mich. — The West Catholic girls basketball team jumped out to an early lead but ended up falling to Lansing Catholic 59-41 at the Breslin Center on Friday night in a division two state semifinal.
The Falcons led 17-6 after one and 20-9 early in the second quarter, but did not score the final 6:42 of the frame.
West still led by 6 at the break and by the same margin with three minutes left in the third quarter, but the Cougars went on a 16-2 run to take the game over.
"Hats off to them," Falcons head coach Jill VanderEnde said of Lansing Catholic. "We struggled to do what we normally do which is get a quick bucket and setup the press."
Senior Cadence Dykstra led the Falcons with 13 points, Reese Polega and Elisha Dykstra each chipped in nine.
"This team was just so close and every team was so close," Cadence said about her high school career. "I don't know what else to say besides it was just amazing. Being here twice with these amazing people, you can't ask for anything better."
This marked the second straight season that West Catholic made it to the Breslin Center after finishing as state runner-up last year.
"It is mostly the same team (as last season) which I think makes it even more special," West Catholic senior Ellie Bies, who scored four points and had four steals, said. "I think obviously it didn't end the way we wanted but just to make it back here was really cool, most teams don't even get that so just appreciating that at least doing it with an amazing team along the way was really fun."
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