The Van Buren Eaglettes fell to Greenfield in the quarterfinals of the Class 1A State Tournament Thursday evening, falling by a score of 41-40.
The first quarter saw Greenfield jump out to a 15-6 lead. Van Buren opened the second quarrter on a 13-2 run to take the lead, leading by four at the half after holding Greenfield to six points in the quarter.
An 8-2 run would start the second half for Van Buren, increasing their lead to as much as ten midway through the third uqarter. Van Buren entered the fourth uqarter leading by seven.
The final quarter would start with Van Buren not scoring for the first four minutes and 48 seconds of the quarter seeing their lead cut to one. Van Buren would score their only five points of the fourth on a layup by Abigail Netherton and a three pointer from Ellie Grissom with 1:19 to go, putting the Eaglettes up by six.
But Greenfield would close the quarter with seven unanswered points, with a Rayanna Fisher three pointer with 21 seconds to go saw Van Buren’s season end in the state quarterfinals.
Abigail Netherton scored 20 of the 40 Van Buren points and added six steals to lead all players. Cara Mills added 12 rebounds and nine points, with Ellie Grissom adding seven points on two of three shooting.
Both teams finished shooting 17 of 52 from the field, at 32.7 percent and made three of their seven free throws.
The game marks the second year in a row Van Buren’s season came to an end against Greenfield in the state tournament. The Eaglettes fell to Greenfield last year in the Class 1A state championship game.