WAYLAND

A wonderful start to Lady Lions basketball only continues to get better as Lone Tree claimed their 10th victory of the season against conference opponent WACO, 49-39, on Dec. 19. 

This win on the road over a Southeast Iowa Super Conference opponent improves Lone Tree’s conference record to 6-1. The Lady Lions have only lost one game this season and after that loss they are now the winners of seven consecutive games. 

After a closely contested first quarter, Lone Tree’s defense stepped up and limited the Warriors to just six points. This defensive effort allowed Lone Tree to go into halftime with a seven-point lead, a lead they would hold onto for the rest of the game. 

Defense has been the Lady Lions calling card this season and is a key reason why they have won seven games in a row. 

“Our team’s biggest strength and what continues to lead us is our defense,” Lone Tree coach Ryan Shelman said about his team. “We are a very aggressive team on the defensive end and the key to our success.  We believe that defense starts with pressure and putting pressure on guards.”

The aggressiveness on defense leads to steals. Lone Tree leads Class 1A in steals. So far this season Lone Tree has six players who have recorded 20 or more steals, with junior Vivian Zaruba leading the Lady Lions with 46. 

“Rylee Shield, Avery Lisk and Finley Jacque do a great job of providing steals and defense in our rotation.  Alyson Ford and Cate Sexton have been amazing in the post this season and have both had breakout seasons,” coach Shelman said.

“Our front court continues to rebound well, and we continue to develop as a team. Vivian Zaruba has been outstanding at the top of our press and pressure and now we are able to bring Ava Christofferson off of the bench that brings in athleticism and speed to the top of our zone and press as well.”

Defense leading to offense has worked well this season for Lone Tree and the offense this year has been led by standout sophomore Finley Jacque. 

Against WACO, Jacque scored a team high 21 points, scoring four three-pointers. This is the sixth time this season Jacque has scored 20 or more points in a game. 

“Finley shot the ball really well against WACO.  She is a phenomenal talent, and everyone is keying on her defensively,” coach Shelman said. “She continues to develop and play at a high level even as a sophomore.  She is working hard on both ends and she is an underrated defender.  She does a nice job taking care of the basketball and she is learning to be more aggressive.”

In the fourth and final quarter Lone Tree once again limited the Warriors to single digit points to put to rest the chance of a potential comeback. WACO’s final score of 39 was their third lowest point total of the season. 

Next up for the Lady Lions is a break for the holidays. The next time they will play it will be a brand-new year and they will begin the year with an impressive 10-1 record. 

“Our mindset has remained the same: Focus, Confidence, Poise! We will continue to take one game at a time and focus on the details and the task at hand. We want to stay aggressive and get better as the season goes on.” coach Shelman said about what the focus will be on after the break.

  “I am super proud of our squad and how willing they are to put it all on the floor together. Over the break we will focus on some things and try to get in some new wrinkles but stay true to our team and what made us successful the first half of the season.”

Lone Tree’s first game of 2024 will be a road game against Winfield-Mt Union (3-8) on Jan. 5. Then the Lady Lions will have a rematch against the only team they have lost to this season, the Columbus Wildcats (9-1), on Jan. 9.  

“The first half of the season we have been all over the state leaderboard for defense and steals and I hope that will continue into the second half of the season,” coach Shelman said. “I think our best basketball is still ahead of us so we will continue to improve and get better!”