Shawnee girls falter down stretch, 31-28

Frustration was there to greet Wendy Wells in her first game as head coach of Shawnee’s girls team.
The Lady Wolves had a six-point lead midway through the fourth quarter but failed to close the hosts out and lost 31-28 Tuesday night at Deer Creek.
With 4:17 to go, Shawnee led 26-20 but Kaylee Allen got the only other Shawnee bucket with :52 left. That gave Shawnee its last lead at 28-27.
In the final two minutes, two key players for Shawnee fouled out. Inside presence Kaytlin Nicholson got her fifth foul with 2:00 left on the clock. Twenty-three seconds later, top scorer Kelsey Grovey also went to the bench with five fouls.
Grovey had a game-high 13 points. Meagan Matushquah added 10 for the visiting Lady Wolves.
Deer Creek’s top scorer was A.J. Miller with 10 points.
“Our kids came out and played hard, executed and played good defense. We just couldn’t knock down shots,” Wells said.
About the last 4:17,  Wells blamed the lack of scoring on turnovers. “We just didn’t take care of the ball and we let the crowd get to us a little.”
Deer Creek led 10-6 after one quarter but Shawnee pulled within 13-12 at the intermission. Deer Creek led 20-18 after three quarters. Shawnee went on an 8-0 run for a 26-20 lead.