Coach: Badin's seniors will be  missed

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By Rick Cassano, Staff Writer 2:13 AM Sunday, March 7, 2010

SPRINGFIELD — Losing was painful. The finality of it all was worse.

Badin High School’s girls basketball team squandered a 14-point lead and lost to Versailles 38-28 in a Division III district title game Saturday, March 6, at Springfield, marking the end of the prep road for eight seniors.

Senior Courtney Hubbard said the loss won’t be the first thing she remembers about this season.

“Everyone on the team liked each other, everyone got along,” said Hubbard, who was hamstrung by foul trouble and managed just three points and five rebounds. “Playing sports year-round for however many years, this is definitely my favorite team. I’ll never forget any of them.”

The rest of the senior class includes Morgan Retherford, Katie Maus, Caitlin Shafor, Alex Brown, Rachel Snodgrass, Katrina Dudley and Ellie Flum.

Rams coach Tom Sunderman, in his second year at the helm, said all the seniors will be missed.

“Two years ago when we started in the spring, the expectations were extremely low for this group,” Sunderman said. “To be here in the district finals, to win 17 games and the (Girls Greater Cincinnati League Grey Central Division) title, you’ve got to be happy with the seniors and this group as a whole. I think they really believed we had a shot to go to Columbus.

“We bring six out of the 10 in our rotation back next year,” he continued. “These younger girls got a taste of it. Hopefully they’ll work hard to get back here next year.”

Shifting gears

Versailles did a solid job against Badin’s full-court pressure, yet still committed 25 turnovers. The Tigers had a hard time dealing with the Rams’ half-court defense, especially in the first half.

Versailles altered its offensive approach after the break, and the Tigers outscored Badin 30-11.

“We changed to a little bit more of a zone offensive set,” Versailles coach Jacki Stonebraker said. “Their half-court defense bothers us because of the trap. That first trap is very aggressive, and we’re just not used to that. We were boggled by it. We didn’t know where to go. We weren’t seeing the open person. The zone offense gave us a couple different options when they came after us, and we were able to move the ball around and get some open shots.”

District notes

• Saturday’s contest was the only time Badin failed to score 30 points this season.

• The Tigers have ousted the Rams from the tournament three times in the last four years.

• Wednesday’s regional matchups at Springfield are Madison vs. Columbus Africentric at 6:15 p.m. and Versailles vs. Anna at 8 p.m.

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