Verona ladies to play for district championship

Facing off in the early going of last night's district game between Verona and Chadwick were the two big shooters for both teams. Verona sophomore guard Tristan Carrasquillo moved into position for the first basket of the game against Chadwick's Jamie Hale, whose fast break efforts sparked a second quarter rally that brought the Lady Cardinals to within one basket of the Lady Wildcats. [Times Photo by Murray Bishoff]

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After owning the first quarter, 10-1, Verona faltered in the next two quarters and found themselves trailing 35-30 going into the final quarter of the game. The Lady Wildcats rallied and outscored the Lady Cardinals 25 to 14 to claim the 55-49 victory.

Tristan Carrasquillo and Jenna Chadd paced Verona with 16 points each. Others adding to the Lady Wildcat point total were: Beth Bigham 11; Jessica Smith 8; and Jori Dodson 4. Nine of Bigham's 11 points came from three-pointers.

Chadwick was led by Jamie Hale's game-high 25 points. Others scoring for Chadwick were: Erika Davis 7; Krystyn Dollarhide 7; Shelby Jones 5; Kaylee Swindle 4; and Katie Hale 1.

In the other semi-final district game, the Exeter Lady Tigers were upended by Walnut Grove 44-37. A scoreless second quarter cost second-seeded Exeter the game.

Destani Stensrud, the Lady Tigers' white-hot shooter, was limited to 8 points in the contest. Abbey Scott led Exeter with 10 points.

The Lady Wildcats of Verona will now face Walnut Grove in the district championship game, which will be played at 6 p.m. on Friday night at Aurora.