BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — The good moments were really good Thursday for the Oneida girls’ basketball team in their first trip back to state tournament in 14 years.
For a span in the second quarter, the Lady Indians played to their capability. Shay Buttram hit a 3. Gracie Martin sank a pair of free throws. And then Katelyn Stiltner converted a 3-point play.
But the rest of the Lady Indians’ Class A state quarterfinal against Loretto wound up mired in frustration. Loretto improved to 32-1 on the season with a 59-40 win.
Oneida (26-8) will return 88 percent of its roster, though, as just two seniors — guard Buttram and post Logan Lamb — will move on.
Thursday could be a major building block towards future visits.
Kendyl West led Oneida with 12 points and four rebounds. Stiltner added eight and five. Buttram had nine points.
The Oneida Lady Indians fell to the Loretto Lady Mustangs 59-40 in the TSSAA Class A girls state tournament at Middle Tennessee State University’s Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on Thursday, March 7, 2019. (Photo by Danny Parker)
“I think this (appearance) can be huge,” said Oneida coach Marv West. “Hopefully, we use this as a learning moment. What are we doing in position development? Several of them are going to play travel ball. Are they out there just to run through the motions — or are they out there to get better.
“I’m going to challenge them as a coach to get better at that. And I’m going to work hard looking at the little things we didn’t do well down here. I’m going to do a better job with my bunch to help hopefully get them ready for another run next year.
Loretto surged ahead of Oneida quickly, taking a 12-2 lead with 2 minutes, 19 seconds left in the first quarter. It added a score just before the first-quarter horn to claim a 16-4 advantage.
But Oneida, which made just 1 of 13 field goals in the first quarter, responded.
Buttram buried a 3 to start the second quarter. Martin’s free throws in the first minute of the seocnd quarter trimmed the deficit to 16-9.
Stiltner’s 3-point play at the 5:03 mark and Kendyl West’s 3 with 1:25 left in the half made Loretto’s lead just six (25-19).
Oneda played like it belonged.
“I challenged them during a timeout. ‘Do we belong here?’ They responded to that for a little while,” said Oneida coach Marv West. “But Weathers turned it on in the third quarter.”
Karly Weathers scored 23 points and had 14 rebounds for Loretto.
The Lady Mustangs, who are seeking their first state title since 1958, came out of the break determined to put Oneida away, and they did. A 10-0 run to start the third put Loretto ahead 37-20. West hit a 3 with 3:40 left to temporarily stop the bleeding, but Loretto only poured on more steam and built a 49-30 lead heading in the final quarter.
“All year, the games we’ve won, we’ve made the easy buckets,” said West. “We missed a lot of easy buckets (tonight). We were shying away from their length — and it cost us.”