The Lady Wildcats earned a spot in Friday's Class 4 district basketball tournament final, and a rematch with MICDS, which it upset in the regular season, with a 55-43 win over Villa Duchesne in Clayton Wednesday.
The Lady Rams only loss of the season , falling behind at the end and losing 47-41.
If the names Stipanovich and Cusumano ring true, then memories are well served. Seven foot Steve Stipanovich and guard Frank Cusumano scored about a gazillion points for De Smet in the 1970s and picked up championship hardware left and right. These days, their offspring are making news at Westminster.
Sophomores Sadie Stipanovich and Brooke Cusumano are top guns for the Lady Cats. The sophomore center controlled the post and had 21 points. Cusumano, a point guard had 12 Wednesday night.
“I give a lot of credit to Sadie (Stipanovich). She played a great game. She stepped up her game and she was the difference maker,” said Villa’s coach Jane Ellen Kuenzel. “Still, I’m proud of my girls. They played hard right from the beginning. We got off to a slow start and we never quite recovered,” she said.
Steve Stipanovich was evaluating MICDS offense, preparing his plans for Friday’s showdown. “They run a little weave then they kick it back out. We’ll be prepared for them. “They (Villa) did a good job of slowing our pace in the first half. We really weren’t hitting our shots in the first half, but we got going after that.”
Photos by Jim Baer and Joe Nuelle.
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