State playoff run ends for Lady Tigers

For the third consecutive season, the Ringgold Lady Tigers advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the Class AAA state playoffs.

Unfortunately for the Blue-and-White, they also saw their season end in the Sweet 16 for a third consecutive season.

Last Wednesday night, that final destination turned out to be some 300 miles away in Tattnall County as the Lady Tigers couldn’t hold on to a first quarter or a third quarter lead and were eliminated, 49-38.

Ringgold (22-7) jumped out to a 12-5 lead over the Lady Warriors after the first eight minutes, but head coach Margaret Stockburger said little mistakes would prove costly for her team.

“We came out in the first quarter and played well,” she said. “But we started making some unforced turnovers in the second quarter and we missed some layups and free throws. I think we really just beat ourselves. (Tattnall County) won the game, but we helped them a lot.”

Tattnall County (1712) came back to take a 21-19 lead at halftime, only to see Ringgold fight back to regain a 3332 advantage going into the fourth. However, the mistakes began to mount up again for the Lady Tigers, who were outscored 18-5 in the final period.

“I’ve been proud of them all year,” Stockburger said. “They’ve overcome a lot of injuries this season. Like I told them, only one team in each classification gets to go home with a win at the end of the playoffs, so we have nothing to hang our heads about. I know the girls wanted to win, but we just didn’t execute like we needed to.”

Rachel Thomas had a game-high 15 points, followed by Kiwi Dale with eight. Dare Schley had 13 rebounds to go with three steals, while Karoline Sholl finished with four assists.

“I started with five of the six seniors as seventh graders in middle school (Thomas transferred in as a junior) and I followed them to high school when they became freshmen,” Stockburger recalled. “It’s just been an honor to watch them go from little teenagers to young adult ladies. I’ve enjoyed my time coaching all of them and it’s tough to lose them.

“I’ve been with them for six years now so we have bigger bond than normal. They have been a great group of Christian ladies and we’ve done a great job of focusing on that this year. I have no doubt they will go on and do a lot of great things once they graduate from Ringgold.”