The Calvary girls basketball team entered Saturday's title game with some momentum on its side.
But after winning three straight games on their home court, the Lady Lions saw that momentum start to slip away in the second quarter and they couldn't get it back until it was too late.
Lutheran: Kansas City took advantage and went on to claim a 37-30 win against Calvary in the championship game of the Fourth Annual Calvary Tournament on Saturday night.
"We could not get our offense moving," Calvary coach Jonathan Kueck said. "We're working on a new offense and we just couldn't get that going."
Lutheran: Kansas City outscored the Lady Lions 25-6 in the second and third quarters to take a 32-14 lead into the final period. Calvary was just 2-of-17 from the field and committed 12 turnovers during that span.
"It's not that we were taking shots that weren't falling, we just weren't able to get a shot off to begin with," Kueck said.
Calvary (3-6) made a late run to cut its deficit to single digits late in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough.
Still, by placing second, the Lady Lions' best finish since the tournament was founded in 2010, Calvary earned its first trophy in program history.
"They didn't give up," Kueck said. "We've been talking to them about how we don't take things for granted - our gym, our home court. We played hard all the way to the very end. I'm proud of them."
Lutheran: Kansas City jumped out to a 5-2 lead midway through the first quarter, but Emily Hager hit back-to-back jumpers and Kara Wehmeyer followed with a bucket to help give Calvary a one point advantage entering the second period.
Things went down hill for the Lady Lions from there.
Calvary didn't get another field goal until Hager knocked down a shot from the outside with 4:08 left in the third quarter. And by that time, the Lady Lions trailed 25-12.
But it was the Lady Knights' performance in the second quarter that started the momentum swing.
Lutheran: Kansas City outscored the Lady Lions 14-2 in the period and forced six turnovers. Calvary's only points came when Becca Thompson hit a pair of free throws with 1:47 left before the break.
"They have height," Kueck said. "It's been a few games since we've played anybody that has height. We struggled with that. We had a hard time getting it inside and even penetrating to the basket. They're a good team."
The Lady Knights, which had a 21-10 lead at halftime, didn't let up in the third quarter. Lutheran: Kansas City outscored Calvary 11-4 in the period and forced six turnovers with its man-to-man defense to take an 18-point advantage into the final stanza.
The Lady Lions didn't go down without a fight.
Weymeyer hit a 3 to open the fourth quarter and Hager followed with back-to-back buckets to cut the deficit to 13 with 6:27 to play.
Thompson scored six points in the period and Calvary forced eight turnovers in the period, but the Lady Lions didn't have enough time to complete their comeback.
"Once they started stalling, we moved to (a man-to-man defense)," Kueck said. "I was impressed with (that). We forced a couple of turnovers and we were able to score on those turnovers."
Hager scored a game-high 12 points to lead Calvery, which was 13-of-39 (33.3 percent)from the field and 3-of-8 from the free-throw line. Thompson added eight points, and Wehmeyer chipped in seven points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks to help pace the Lady Lions.
Lauren Hick and Kately Gloe each scored seven points to lead Lutheran: Kansas City, which was 15-of-51 (29.4 percent) from the field.
Calvary returns to action Tuesday when the Lady Lions host Bunceton.
"Even though we lost this game, that fourth quarter will really help push us into Tuesday," Kueck said. "We play at our place again. That will help, too."