EMPORIA — The tears began to flow shortly after the St. John High School Lady Tigers posed for the Class 1A Division-I second-place trophy picture on the hardwood at White Auditorium Saturday night.
Hoxie limited St. John to only 26.7 field-goal shooting for the game and held on for a 55-45 victory over the Lady Tigers, who were making their third state appearance in the last four years.
Senior standout Teresa Wade hit 5 of 11 shots, including a 3-pointer, and sank 2 of 3 free throws to finish with a team-high 13 points in the final game of her stellar career. But her St. John teammates were a collective 11 for 50 in the state title game, including shooting only 18.9 percent in the second half (7 for 37).
“I know my team played as hard as they could,” said Wade, a recipient of countless hugs as she wiped away tears. “I really appreciate their effort and they gave us a really good season, a really good career for me, and I really appreciate it.”
Wade drew two early fouls, having to go to bench at the 4:41 mark in the first quarter.
“We didn’t give them a big lead or anything with Teresa out,” St. John head coach Danny Smith said. “We didn’t play that bad, but the bottom line is they took away our best three players and told our other two to step up and shoot shots and we didn’t do it.
“That’s why we had an awful hard time scoring, but I’m proud of my girls and they had a good season.”
With Wade on the bench, Hoxie suddenly became careless with the basketball and committed eight turnovers in the opening five minutes, 39 seconds of the game, falling behind 13-8 at the 1:47 mark after St. John’s Jamie Waters converted two free throws.
But Hoxie answered with Carly Heim hitting a 3-pointer and Gabriel Spresser scoring on a layup to knot the score at 13.
St. John regained the lead, 14-13, after Waters made 1 of 2 free throws before Heim converted a pair on the other end, giving Hoxie its first lead of the game at 15-14 to end the first quarter.
The Lady Tigers (23-3) never had the lead again.
Wade, who re-entered at the start of the second quarter, nailed a 3-pointer from the right baseline to tie the game at 17 with 5:51 left before halftime.
That’s when a barrage of 3s took place, including back-to-back from Mackenzie Mense, to give the Indians a 24-17 lead at the 4:24 mark.
After Waters answered with a 3-ball from the left wing, Mense dropped in another from beyond the arc to build the margin to 27-19.
“They can shoot the 3 and they have been doing it all tournament,” Smith said. “They’re just a real good team all-around.”
Tara Christie’s 3-pointer with at the 3:46 mark pulled the Lady Tigers within 27-22 before a three-point play by Carly Heim helped give Hoxie a 32-27 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, St. John pulled within 38-33 on Wade’s three-point play, but the Tribe went on a 9-3 run to take a 47-36 lead after three quarters.
Hoxie was able to maintain its lead the rest of the way to secure its first state title since winning the 3A crown in 1993 at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
St. John won the state title in 2009, finished third in 2010 and now has a second-place trophy to its collection.
“That’s what we talked about,” Smith said. “A lot of teams don’t have an opportunity to play in this game. We’re a little disappointed, but we’re still happy with our season.”

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Class 1A Division-I
State Tournament

At Emporia
White Auditorium

GIRLS

Championship

Saturday

Hoxie 55, St. John 45
 ST. JOHN (23-3)
     Morgan Osborne 1-9 1-2 3, Jamie Waters 2-8 4-4 8, Teresa Christie 0-10 2-4 2, Alexis Witt 4-6 0-0 8, Teresa Wade 5-11 2-3 13, Tia Smith 0-5 0-0 0, Jessica Hanson 0-3 0-0 0, Haley Falk 2-5 0-0 4, Tara Christie 2-3 1-4 7, Rhian Collins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-60 10-17 45.
HOXIE (24-1)
     Mackenzie Mense 3-6 5-9 15, Shelby Heim 2-6 1-2 6, Kristina Farber 1-3 2-4 4, Carly Heim 6-12 5-6 18, Lexi Schamberger 2-5 2-2 6, Gabriel Spresser 1-2 0-0 2, Sarah Farber 0-1 0-0 0, Danel Stithem 1-2 0-1 2, Natasha Allmer 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 17-37 16-24 55.
St. John          14  13   9    9  —  45
Hoxie              15  17  15   8  —  55
    Three-point goals — Hoxie 5-14 (Mense 3-4, S. Heim 1-4, C. Heim 1-4, Spresser 0-1, Stithem 0-1); St. John 3-18 (Ta. Christie 2-2, Wade 1-2, Osborne 0-3, Waters 0-2, Te. Christie 0-1,  Smith 0-4, Hanson 0-2, Falk 0-2). Rebounds — St. John 40 (Wade 7, Waters 7, Te. Christie 6); Hoxie 32 (C. Heim 7, Mense 5). Assists — St. John 8 (Waters 3, Osborne 3); Hoxie 8 (C. Heim 3, Stithem 2). Turnovers — Hoxie 19, St. John 14.