SHAWNEE — The Corn Bible Academy Lady Crusaders came up short as they lost to North Rock Creek 3-1 in the regional final.
“I told the girls in the locker room after we lost they can leave proud of what they did at regionals,” coach Erin Basinger said. “North Rock Creek is a good team. It was a supertough regional and we never gave up. I told the girls I was super proud of them because they showed a Christlike example of grace when we lost.”
In the first game, Corn Bible trailed 11-1 early. Corn Bible went on a 3-0 run making it 11-4. Corn Bible trailed the rest of the way through losing the first set 25-12.
Corn Bible won the second set 25-22 and. It went back and forth early and Corn Bible built a 13-10 lead. After that, North Rock Creek went on a 5-0 run, prompting coach Basinger to call a timeout. Corn Bible went on a 4-1 run to take a 17-16 lead. Corn Bible was ahead 22-18 and later won the second game 25-22.
“I am proud of the way the girls came back after losing the first set to tie the set, 1-1,” Basinger said. “The first set we were rusty and were not ready to play. We came back in the second set and played much better.”
In the third set, Corn Bible had the momentum early after a kill by Gabby Clayton giving them an early 2-0 lead. Corn Bible built a 10-5 lead. North Rock Creek went on a 6-0 run and coach Basinger called a timeout. Corn Bible later trailed 19-14 and coach Basinger called a second timeout. North Rock Creek won the second game 25-19.
Corn Bible trailed early 8-3. They got back in the set with kills by Kinsi Grube and Chloe Nelson. Corn Bible trailed 13-7 and got back into it with a back line shot from Nelson. Kaysa Carpenter hit a dig which got the crowd fired up. North Rock built a lead, but Corn Bible fired right back and the score was 19-16. North Rock Creek went onto win the set 25-19.
“We have never had a season like this before,” Basinger said. “It definitely will a season to remember. We just had to roll with the punches. Every day was a new day and at times, people were unable to practice. Hopefully, we never have to have a season like this again.”
Corn Bible finishes the regular season with a record of 12-11.
“We can build off of tonight,” Basinger said. “A lot of younger girls got good experience through practice and tough games. Hopefully, we continue to improve going forward.”