ACGC Girls' Season Ends With District Loss to WCV

It wasn't what Charger players, coaches and fans wanted to happen, but it did! The season ended abruptly with a 39-26 loss to West Central Valley in a regional quarterfinal game played in Guthrie Center on Tuesday. The Chargers could never get on track offensively as they failed to score in double figures in any of the four quarters.

Meanwhile, WCV senior Madelyn Jaeger went on a tear in the first quarter and scored all of the Wildcat points--18 of them! She was a perfect seven for seven from the field which included three trifectas. The Chargers simply had no answer for Jaeger's performance, as they totaled just five points in the quarter.

"We needed to identify their shooter right away," Charger coach Brad Baudler said in reference to Jaeger's shooting performance. "We can't let her go off like we did. We also needed to be more efficient on offense and score more."

The teams played evenly throughout the remainder of the game, with WCV maintaining a double digit lead. The Chargers didn't help themselves as they went for five minutes without scoring in the second quarter and the Wildcats went into the halftime break with a 27-12 lead. ACGC shot just 20% from the field in the first half on five makes out of twenty five attempts. The Wildcats, by comparison, went eleven for twenty three for 48%. Each team made a free throw. Emerson Van Meter netted five points in the half for ACGC.

But there was still hope for ACGC, as there was a full half left to play. The Chargers needed to cut their deficit to under ten points in the third quarter to realistically have a chance at victory. But it didn't happen. Neither team shot well in the third quarter as they scored just twelve points between them and shot just 22%. WCV maintained its double digit lead at 32-19.

The exercise in futility continued into the fourth quarter, with each team scoring seven points. Both teams made just two field goals. The Chargers got within ten points at 34-24 with 5:37 on the clock when Alaina Bunde sank a free throw. It was tied again at 26 apiece with 2:40 to go, but the Chargers failed to score again and West Central Valley came away with the win.

Saige O'Brien led the Charger scoring with 8 points, with Alaina Bunde getting 5 points. According to unofficial statistics, ACGC shot 23% for the game on nine scores out of thirty nine tries. The team made half of its free throws with seven successes out of fourteen attempts.

The loss ends the season for the Chargers as this was a "Do or die game." A loss on the tournament trail ends the season for the loser, while the winner lives for another game. The Chargers completed the season with a .500 record at 11-11. Alaina Bunde is the only senior on the team. Her presence will be missed in the post. With four starters returning and with some depth on the bench, the Chargers can look to next year with optimism.

Score by quarter:

WCV 18 9 5 7--36

ACGC 5 7 7 7--29