Lady Trojans shoot past Tarkio in semifinals

Since entering Fairfax's dimly lit high school gymnasium, Nodaway-Holt's outside attack has begun to flourish again.

Top-seeded Nodaway-Holt matched its first round total with six three-pointers and led from start to finish in a 47-40 win over Tarkio in the semifinals of the Fairfax Tournament Wednesday.

It was the Trojans second win over Tarkio in the last five days, putting them in the finals to face either Rock Port or North Nodaway Friday night at 8 p.m.

Nodaway-Holt junior guard Megan Rosenbohm connected on four of the team's six three's and finished with a game-high 21 points. Kalli Devers hit the other two for her six points.

The Trojans (11-2) only made one three in their 44-42 win over Tarkio last Friday, but now have 12 in their last two games.

"Megan was hitting from the outside and Kalli hit some baskets out there," said Nodaway-Holt head coach David Carroll. "Our outside shooting was better."

Playing both zone and triangle-and-two, Nodaway-Holt also did a better job of containing Tarkio's top two scorers Abby McEnaney and Emily Graves.

McEnaney managed just 11 points after scoring 23 against the Trojans last time. Graves, who had 10 points in the last meeting, finished with six. McEnaney often tried to force the action on the offensive end, resulting in a slew of low-percentage shots and turnovers.

"We had Amanda (O'Riley) out there on her and she stopped her from shooting the three's," said Carroll. "Then when she drove, we had Megan on her. Our defense slowed her down."

Nodaway-Holt totally dominated the first 12 minutes of the game, building a 15-point lead with 4:06 left in the second quarter.

The Trojans scored the first nine points and held as much as a 10-point lead in the opening quarter.

At one point, they scored on six straight trips. Tarkio (8-7) didn't get its first basket until a three by McEnaney with 2:48 left in the opening quarter. Graves had Tarkio's only other first quarter field goal.

"We were just taking the ball and working it inside," said Carroll. "Then we take it in and out and get it to Megan and get some shots that way."

The Indians went nearly the first six minutes of the second quarter without scoring.

During that time, Rosenbohm hit her second three and converted a steal into a layup to make it 20-5.

Tarkio heated up toward the end of the quarter, connecting on three of its last four shots.

A top-of-the-key three by McEnaney made it 25-13 at the half.

Nodaway-Holt maintained a double-digit lead through most of the second half, but never fully put the Indians down for the count.

Rosenbohm hit two big three's in the third quarter with the Indians on the cusp making it a single-digit game.

Her first one extended Nodaway-Holt's lead from 10 to 13 and the second one made it 37-23.

Nodaway-Holt took a 14-point lead to the fourth quarter and went up as many as 16 twice.

With 1:44 left and the Trojans up 11, Rosenbohm collided with a Tarkio player on a rebound and was forced to the leave the game with an apparent arm injury.

"It's something down here," said Carroll, pointing to his bicep area. "She felt something pop here below her shoulder. Hopefully, it's nothing too serious."

Nodaway-Holt played out the remaining time with Rosenbohm on the bench, scoring four more points at the foul line.

Tarkio's Blaze Erickson hit two of her four three-pointers in the last 13 seconds to make the final margin seven points.

Erickson finished with a team-high 18 points and missed only one shot the whole game.

Tarkio ended up with the same number of three's as Nodaway-Holt—six—but made just 8-17 free throws.

The Trojans were 11-15 at the foul line.

Amanda O'Riley and Krysta Beattie matched Devers total with six points. Darcie Gallagher added five points.

Nodaway-Holt is set to play in its third tournament championship game of the year Friday.

The Trojans lost in the Mound City Tournament finals to the host Panthers and won the Northwest Missouri Tournament over North Nodaway.

Nodaway-Holt has already beaten both potential finals opponents this year.

"The last two years we came over and won a game, but we haven't showed up very well," said Carroll. "I'm happy with how we've showed the first two games and we're looking forward to Friday."