Gracie George tries to console teammate Sydni Shelton after the Lady Hawks were eliminated by Deshler in the Class 4A Northwest Regional Final. | Brent Maze

HANCEVILLE – No. 1 Deshler turned a tight game at the half into a 61-34 rout of the Danville Lady Hawks in the Class 4A Northwest Regional Final at Wallace State’s Tom Drake Gym Wednesday morning.

The Lady Tigers (32-2) held Danville (22-11) to just two field goals in the second half while outscoring the Lady Hawks 29-8.

Danville head coach Paul Wilson said they had a difficult time handling Deshler’s press.

“It’s like trying to arm wrestle Edward Scissorhands,” Wilson said. “We handled it pretty good in the first half. They were playing a 2-2-1 press, but they switched more of a man-to-man in the second half. We didn’t do a good job of recognizing whether they were playing zone or man.”

Another reason why Danville had  such a hard time dealing with the press was due point guard Tara Tuck’s foul trouble. She got her fourth foul in the third quarter, when Deshler turned a six-point halftime lead into a 20-point advantage.

“We used one press when No. 2 was in and another when she was out,” said Deshler coach Jane Killen. “We were able to get a number of turnovers in the second half.”

Deshler’s Lauren Cantrel, who led the Lady Tigers with 21, said their job was simple.

“We had to get the ball out of No. 2’s hands,” Cantrell said. “She really hurt us in the first half.”

Tuck finished with 6 points and 4 assists, all of which came in the first half.

Gracie George paced the Lady Hawks with 9 points, followed by Sydni Shelton with 8, Charlee Anderson with 6, Sheila Cordova and Callie Ryan with 2 each and Tabetha Hutto with 1. Shelton also had 5 blocked shots.

Nicole Shirley added 15 points and 7 rebounds for Deshler while Karliegh Sledge had 12 points and 13 rebounds and Julia Burton finished with 6 points and 10 rebounds.

Overall, Danville shot just 27 percent from the field and 11 percent in the second half. Deshler also outrebounded Danville 55-27 with a 33-11 advantage in the second half.

Danville’s only lead came at 6-5 in the first quarter before Deshler took a 21-17 lead at the end of the period. The two teams played fairly evenly in the second quarter with Deshler holding a 32-26 advantage before the Lady Tigers took control in the third and fourth quarters.