Take your pick of the old sports saying.
It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish or a tale of two halves.
Either way, the end result was No. 3-seeded St. Bede could not capitalize off its hot start as No. 4 Midland dominated the second half of the Tri-County Conference Tournament championship Thursday in Dwight to come away with a 51-38 victory over the Bruins.
The Bruins could not have started any better than they did as Lili McClain got a steal and layup to start, but then missed the free throw.
McClain stayed aggressive and got back to the line, but hit just one of her first three shots in the first minute of the game.
Ava Balestri got the and one to fall and the next time down the floor hit one of two from the line to give the Bruins a 7-0 lead.
“We came out aggressive to start the game,” St. Bede coach Tom Ptak said. “We caused some turnovers and got to the line like we wanted to.”
Midland’s 6-foot-2 center Anna McGlasson was in foul trouble most of the night, but made the most of her time on the floor as she hit both foul shots for the Timberwolves’ first points of the game.
St. Bede responded as McClain hit the pull-up jumper and then off a deflection by Savannah Bray got the layup to extend the lead to 11-2.
Balestri and the Bruins continued to pound the ball inside and got to the foul line again where she hit both attempts.
McGlasson hit a tough shot for Midland, but moments later McClain got a steal and layup again as the Bruins led 18-7 at the end of the first.
Midland began to turn things around in the second quarter as McGlasson went on a streak despite having three fouls. First she hit a tough shot in the lane and then hit a short jumper to trim the lead to 19-14.
The Bruins started to get some things going offensively as McClain got a steal and layup and then Hannah Heiberger found Bray with a bounce pass for the basket before McClain drained a long 3-pointer to end the half with St. Bede leading 28-23.
Early in the second half, McGlasson picked up her fourth foul for Midland, while McClain picked up her third for the Bruins.
But the Timberwolves got a ton of production from Jordyn Pyles, while St. Bede became passive. Pyles hit a 17-foot jump shot and then one of two from the line before hitting a shot behind the arc to put Midland ahead 31-28.
“The start was rough for us,” Midland coach Xavier Warren said. “We just changed some things up on defense and started to execute a little better. We tried to plug the middle better than we did in the first half and keep McClain off the 3-point line as well and really limited things in the second half.”
With 1:31 left in the third quarter, Bray hit a short jumper for St. Bede’s first points of the half. The key stat was the Bruins had seven offensive rebounds in three possessions but came away with just two points as the game was tied at 31 heading into the final eight minutes.
The fourth quarter was all Timberwolves.
Pyles got it started by banking in a 3-pointer for a 34-31 lead. Bray followed with a bunny shot in the lane and then Balestri hit one of two at the line to tie the game again at 34.
Pyles came right back down and drained a long-range shot again for Midland.
Emma Franks got an offensive board for Midland and then kicked to Ella Foster for a 3-pointer followed by a jumper from McGlasson as the Timberwolves cruised to the 51-38 championship victory.
“I have no idea what happened in the second half with our energy,” Ptak said. “We were rolling and then were tentative and were not aggressive as a team and Lili (McClain) didn’t look like her aggressive self either. Obviously, very disappointing, but give Midland credit. They are well coached, but we just looked like a different team in the second half.”
McClain, who was named to the all-tournament team, led St. Bede (12-10) with 14 points, while Bray had 10.
McGlasson scored 16 for Midland (16-7) and Pyles added 14.