WARDSVILLE, Mo. - The Blair Oaks Lady Falcons had a giant obstacle to overcome if they wanted to continue their season Monday night.
The Father Tolton Lady Blazers just proved to be too tall of a task.
Michaela Wright, Father Tolton's 6-foot-5 senior, scored 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead the Lady Blazers to a 62-41 win in the first round of the Class 3 District 9 Tournament. Blair Oaks ends the season with a 13-13 record.
"We went into the game thinking we might have a chance. We knew we'd have to play our best game, and we didn't," Blair Oaks coach Kevn Kohler said. "We had hoped that we could press them in a pressure game, and they handled that just fine."
Wright, who has signed with NCAA Division I Texas-Arlington, was one point shy of a double-double by halftime and had 14 rebounds at the break. She also finished the game with six blocked shots.
Kohler said the game plan was to keep the ball out of Wright's hands as much as possible.
"We were going to try to pressure them in the backcourt before they ever got it to her," Kohler said. "We just didn't execute that as well as we would like to. There have been times when our full-court presses have been fantastic, but they handled it."
Blair Oaks led 4-0 just two minutes into the game and battled with Father Tolton for much of the first quarter. However, the Lady Blazers quickly made a habit of getting to the free-throw line.
Father Tolton shot 11-of-12 from the line in the first quarter, taking a 20-11 lead after the first eight minutes.
"They were 13 out of 14 in the first half and they were up 16 (at half)," Kohler said. "They were playing man-to-man and we were playing zone."
The Lady Falcons shot just 3-of-12 from the floor in the second quarter and foul trouble took its toll on their post players.
Brooke Boessen picked up her third foul with :14 left in the first quarter and went to the bench for the rest of the half, leaving Kellie Fredendall to have to play the second quarter with two fouls.
Father Tolton stretched its lead to double digits and added 3-pointers from Haleigh Berrey and Serena Berrey in the second quarter to lead 34-18 at halftime.
Blair Oaks switched to a man-to-man defense in the second half, which limited some of Wright's looks at the basket.
"Kellie did a good job with her," Kohler said. "Kellie is listed at 5-11, and you're guarding somebody who is six, seven inches taller than you are. She didn't do a bad job. Kellie is a hustler on defense."
On the other end of the floor, Blair Oaks wasn't intimidated by Wright's height and attacked the basket just like it was any other game.
Boessen scored the Lady Falcons' first eight points of the third quarter, finishing with a team-high 16, and Fredendall had her team's first four points of the fourth quarter, scoring eight points in the game.
"We just decided that we had to do what we do, and that's been our game all year," Kohler said.
Father Tolton held a 47-28 lead after three quarters and led by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter, using just a seven-player rotation until the final minute of the game.
Haleigh Berrey finished with 12 points for the Lady Blazers and Christina Walker added 11.
In a district that featured three state-ranked teams, Monday's matchup was just another obstacle Blair Oaks had to face. But with a young roster, Kohler is optimistic about the future of his program, which will bring back seven of the nine players who took the floor Monday.
"I've enjoyed coaching these girls," Kohler said. "We've had so many crazy things happen, from an ACL blowout to a broken hand. I'm sitting there looking at about 30 points a game sitting there on the bench filling the water bottles. It's been a weird year.
"But they've stuck together. They're great friends and I'm proud of them. I wouldn't want to coach anybody but them."
Father Tolton (20-5) will face Southern Boone (21-5) in the district semifinals at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Southern Boone won 65-35 against South Callaway in its first-round contest.