Nevada Daily Mail

The Cottey College basketball season came to a close Saturday after an 80-59 loss to Penn Valley Community College in the Region XVI finals in St. Louis.

The Comets (17-8) led 42-38 at half-time but fell apart in the second half, scoring just 17 points in the period to succumb to Penn Valley (20-12). Most of Cottey's offense came from Melissa Hedges' 24-point performance, combined with 13-point outings from Jessica Roberts and Brittany Smith. Cottey head coach Dave Ketterman said half-time adjustments and fatigue combined to plague the Comets in the second period.

"We played a super first half and somewhere around the 10-minute mark of the second half our legs just went," Ketterman said. "The kids nearly played to exhaustion. We finished at 9:30 p.m. the night before and had to turn around and play at 2 p.m. the next afternoon.

"The first half, they played a full-court press and we really burned them on it. In the second half they went to a half-court trap. We didn't have the speed with our guards being dead-legged to split that trap and attack. They had nine or 10 baskets in transition and turnovers. It was off the steals off the back of that trap that gave us problems."

Cottey lost its third straight Region XVI championship but has plenty of reasons to smile about the 2007-'08 season. The Comets' 17 wins is the most in school history and Cottey has upset a higher seed in the semifinals of the tournament three straight years. Two of the three years Cottey has beaten higher-seeded Meramec college.

"I've got to say our kids exceeded our expectations," Ketterman said. "They really came together as a team. We had a short bench -- eight active on the roster -- and they just found ways to win. I think the type of kids we have here, they're smart kids with specific talents, they learned how to play together."

A specific talent on display for most of the season was Hedges' knack for scoring the basketball, specifically from the free-throw line. Hedges finished her final year ranked third from the line nationally among Division II junior college women, hitting a blistering 107-120 for 89.1 percent She accounted for nine of Cottey's 17 second half points, shooting 7-8 from the line.

Hedges scored a combined 53 points in the final two games of the season, hitting two 3-pointers and 16-of-18 free throws.

"Melissa really finished the year very strong," Ketterman said. "Her numbers were just about the same this year as they were last year. We put Melissa at the elbow and she did a great job of attacking the basket and drawing the fouls."

Hedges joins teammates Jessica Roberts and Brittany Smith as all-regional team selections. Elizabeth Wagoner was also named to the second team, all-regional.

Penn Valley moves on from the championship to the district playoffs on March 8. The Scouts defeated the Cottey for the third time this season to take the tournament. Natasha Turner led the way for Penn Valley with 26 points, including three 3-pointers. Nikita Norwood finished with 14 points, followed by Ashley Booker's 11.

Cottey: Roberts 6-12 0-0 13, Wagoner 2-8 0-0 5, Smith 5-14 2-4 13, Hedges 6-12 11-12 24, Painter 1-3 0-0 2, Valerio 0--0 0-0 0, Moon 0-1 0-0 0. Frick 0-4 2-3 2. TOTALS: 20-54 15-19 59.

Penn Valley: Norwood14 0-1, Turner 26 3-5, Izedonmwen 8 0-0, Booker 11 3-6, Hill 6 0-0, Aaron 7 1-1, Walker 8 0-0. TOTALS: 6-13 80.

Cottey: ............................ 42 17 -- 59

Penn Valley..................... 38 42 -- 80

Three-point field goals: Cottey 4-16 (Roberts 1-3, Wagoner 1-1, Smith 1-6, Hedges 1-4, Frick 0-2)

Total fouls: Cottey13, Penn Valley 16. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: none.

Rebounds: Cottey 41 (Roberts 10, Wagoner 10, Smith 6, Hedges 6, Painter 3, Moon 3, Frick 3). Assists: Cottey 13 (Roberts 1, Wagoner 2, Smith 1, Hedges 3, Painter 5, Frick 1). Turnovers: Cottey 23 (Roberts 6, Wagoner 4, Smith 4, Painter 2, Moon 4, Frick 3). Steals: Cottey 3 (Smith 2, Painter 1). Blocked shots: Cottey 6 (Roberts 4, Hedges 1, Frick 1).ô