By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
GOWER - East Buchanan has been known as a tenacious defensive team this season, holding nine opponents to 30 points or less.
However, it was the Bulldogs' hot offensive start, which propelled them to a 40-26 win over Lathrop (13-13) in Tuesday night's Class 3 District 15 semifinal at East Buchanan High School.
East Buchanan (14-9) hit a trio of three-pointers in the first quarter and jumped out to a 27-14 halftime lead.
"The fast start helped us a lot," said senior Lilly Schilling, who scored a game-high 16 points on three made three-pointers. "I think we brought a ton of energy from the get-go. Even in warm-ups, the team vibe was completely different. We knew we were ready, and I knew we could get the job done just by the way we started off."
Defensively, East Buchanan forced Lathrop into a flurry of rushed and forced shots. The Mules made only six field goals in the first half, and scored only eight points in the second and third quarters combined.
Quite the reversal from when Lathrop took down East Buchanan 63-34 in the first round of the KCI tournament in early December. The Bulldogs have now won the last three meetings with the Mules.
"I thought we played well and followed our game plan," head coach Cori Elms said. "We took care of some thing that we had struggled the last couple of times we played (Lathrop). Anytime you play someone four times, you know each other pretty well and have to take advantage of that."
Lathrop did all they could to slow East Buchanan down, holding the Bulldogs to just 13 second half points. Though, the Mules were sluggish on offense down the stretch as well, making just five field goals over the final two quarters.
"Our team is really known for defense I feel like," Schilling said. "We each had a job going into this game. We just knew that if we executed and did the things we needed to do on the defensive end and hold them to a certain amount of points, we'd continue to move forward. The whole team had that goal and continued with that goal."
East Buchanan is perhaps the hottest team in Class 3 right now with a 10-1 record in their last 11 games. They've done it without all-conference sophomore forward Gracie Kelsey, who's had to sit out this season due to an injury sustained during softball in the fall.
They also had to replace three seniors from the 2019-20 team that won the Class 2 state title last year.
"Losing what we lost last year and having Gracie Kelsey out, we had to step into some new roles," Elms said. "You have to be patient and let your girls develop into those roles, and I think they're pretty confident in what their job is now."
Up next for East Buchanan is Lawson - the No. 1 seed in the district bracket. The Cardinals (17-5) defeated West Platte, 59-35, Tuesday to advance to Friday's district championship, which will be hosted by Lathrop at 5:30 p.m.
The Cardinals are the only team to have beaten East Buchanan in the last month, beating the Bulldogs in Lawson, 46-35, on Feb. 16.
It's been over two years since East Buchanan has lost a postseason game. They were bounced in the first round of districts by Penney on Feb. 19, 2019.
With a formidable challenge ahead this Friday, East Buchanan looks to stick to what's been working lately.
"We have to focus on our strengths," Elms said, "and that's being able to play good defense and continue to look on the offensive end for different options."
East Buchanan 40 - 17, 10, 7, 6
Lathrop 26 - 10, 4, 4, 8
East Buchanan scorers - Lilly Schilling - 16, Erin McPike - 13, Maya Watkins - 8, Madi Jessen - 3
Lathrop scorers - Bailey White - 6, Josie Wright - 6, Keylie Beane - 5, Arissa Jackson - 4, Maycee Nichols - 3, Kaitlyn Morgan - 2.
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