The St. John Lady Tigers gave no quarter against the Rozel-Pawnee Heights Indians, starting with a 13-2 first quarter lead and going on to win 48-22 in the second round of the Claflin 1A Regional last Friday evening.
In the first quarter, the Lady Tigers' defense was playing with such intensity that it seemed that coach Danny Smith was substituting his players more often, giving them a breather from the Tigers' non-stop action. That included the Tigers' swarming press that gave the Lady Indians fits. The result – Pawnee Heights had two free throws and no baskets.
Even though the Tiger defense was clickin on all fours, the Tiger offense was having some problems, or at least in the first two minutes, with the score knotted at 0-0. Coach Smith called a time-out, which seemed to work. Senior guard Brooke Burgan started hitting the long ones, canning three 3-pointers. Jamie Waters and Abbie Ward each made a 2-pointer. The score in St. John's favor 13-2.
The same situation happened in the second quarter as in the first, the Lady Tigers coming out and scoring 2 points in almost three minutes. Smith called his second time-out with the same result. Six St. John Ladies started scoring, with Burgan leading the pack with 5 points, one her fourth 3-pointer. The Lady Tigers increased their lead by 6, ending the quarter ahead 29-12.
The quarter's highlight was a picture-perfect pass from Burgan to guard Jamie Waters running down court at full speed for the lay-up.
Starting the third quarter, it was becoming more obvious what Pawnee Heights' game plan was – to keep St. John's Teresa Wade out of the paint, and at times triple-teaming her with some success.
Few points were scored in the quarter with both teams looking a little ragged, St. John going into the four quarter with a 38-16 lead.
With a running clock in the final period, the pace slowed down some. Burgan once again found the range by hitting her fifth 3-pointer. The final score – St. John 48, Rozel-Pawnee Heights 22.
Burgan was high scorer for St. John with 19 points'
