Attribute second half spotlighting of young tournament players to a near first quarter shut out.
Turner and Blue Sky both struggled early on with press-breaking but, in the last four minutes of the first quarter, Blue Sky center Jessica Patrick led a run of thirteen unanswered Eagle points.
Five of Patrick's seven first-quarter points resulted from her offensive rebounding efforts while junior Natalie Strissel banked in two from the left wing. Sophomore Lindsay Anderson and senior captain Cassidy Han each contributed two in the run.
"We hit the boards well especially Jessica (Patrick) and Cassidy (Han)," Blue Sky coach Darin Hannum said. "We also pressed aggressively. They worked hard, hustled well and did what needed to be done to get the steal."
"Once they beat us back we kind of got into trouble," Tornado coach Shawna Billmayer said.
Blue Sky continued to dominate the game through the second quarter, out-scoring the Tornadoes 32-8 by halftime.
"In the last three or four games we have not hit anything," Billmayer said. "Our shooting mid-season seemed to be better our bunnies are killing us."
With four minutes left in the third, coach Hannum pulled out the starters giving the younger players a chance to score.
"I liked the effort from our JVer's especially Ashley Gatzemeier and the Haas sisters" Hannum said. "They'd played tournaments before, but they worked very hard tonight."
Gatzemeier scored four in the contest, following her own shot for two and driving the lane through traffic for another two.
The Eagles meet the Box Elder Bears in semi-final action Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Blue Sky lost the semi-finals to Box Elder at last year's district tournament and Hannum said his team is coming into the game positively this year.
"We had a great second half against Box Elder earlier this season. Unfortunately they scored 35 points over us in the first half," Hannum said. "If we start early, it could be interesting."
The Turner Tornadoes will take on Hays-Lodgepole in loser out action Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
"We beat Hays/Lodgepole both times in the regular season, but we're not overlooking them in the tourney," Billmayer said. "They would have outscored us tonight."
The Thunderbirds scored 25 in their loss against the Bears while Turner finished with 21.
Blue Sky
23
9
20
10
62
Turner
4
4
7
6
21
Blue Sky Patrick 13, Han 12, Anderson 9, Strissel 6, Heather Wendland 6, Ashley Gatzemeier 4, Ashlee Lincoln 3, Holly Haas 2, Heather Haas 2, Kile Patrick 2, Kaila Warren 2.
Turner Jessi Richman 8, Jade Olszewski 4, Melissa Grabofsky 4, Britney Jones 3, Jeannine Esch 2.
