Miss Basketball Showcase
2004 National Champions

KEARNEY — Chevelle Herring got revved up at the right time to lead Daubert Pinnacle Nebraska I to the Miss Basketball Showcase championship.

Herring scored a game-high 17 points, 10 in the second half, to lead Daubert Pinnacle to a 48-45 comeback victory over the Kansas Dream Team in the Miss Basketball Showcase National Championship Game.

Herring was the catalyst for Daubert Pinnacle, scoring seven points in a sluggish first half to keep her team in the game and nabbing five steals to key a Daubert Pinnacle defense that forced 28 Kansas turnovers.

“Chevelle stepped up. All tournament she’s been there for us,” Daubert Pinnacle coach Linda Walker said. “She hit some big shots and she kept us rolling when we were down.”

Daubert Pinnacle struggled offensively for most of the game, trailing 20-18 at halftime and 31-26 with a little more than nine minutes to play. But the Nebraskans found a spark in the last eight minutes.

Daubert Pinnacle scored 22 points over the last 8:24, the final 12 coming in a game closing, 12-5 run.

“It just seemed like we weren’t getting going,” Walker said. “But once the game was on the line we started to tune it up and get better.”

Still, Kansas stayed close.

A pair of free throws by Jacie Hoyt closed the gap to two with 48 seconds left, and an Andrea Leiker three-pointer again cut the gap to two with nine seconds left after three Daubert Pinnacle free throws.

But Herring scored her final point on a free throw with 8.4 seconds left, and Leiker’s desperation half-court heave at the buzzer bounced harmlessly off the back of the rim to end the game.

Walker was thrilled with her team’s performance against some of the top all-star teams in the Midwest.

“I feel like I have a great group of girls who have come to this tournament with a focus and had a lot of fun,” Walker said. “To get to the championship game and to win it is a great feeling.”

The Daubert Pinnacle defense also found a way to slow down Dream Team’s JoAnn Hamlin, who had scored 51 points in her previous two games. Hamlin finished with 12 points after averaging more than 19 in her previous seven games.

Kris Richman joined her teammate in double figures, finishing with 10. Hoyt had eight while Leiker added seven.

West Point Central Catholic’s Megan Neuvirth was the only other Daubert Pinnacle player to crack double figures, finishing with 11 points and a team-high six rebounds. Fellow Blue Jay Jackie Knievel added nine. Elm Creek’s Jade Meads, the only Hub Territory player on the roster, finished with three points and four rebounds.

Daubert Pinnacle NE I 48, Kansas Dream Team 45

Miss Basketball Showcase National Championship

KANSAS DREAM TEAM — Jacie Hoyt 3-7 2-2 8, Andrea Leiker 3-9 0-0 7, Kristina Jones 1-2 0-0 3, Danielle Pratt 0-1 0-0 0, Shalee Lehning 1-1 1-2 3, Kris Richman 4-5 2-4 10, Monica Adcock 1-5 0-0 2, JoAnn Hamlin 6-10 0-0 12. Total 19-40 5-8 45.

DAUBERT PINNACLE NEBRASKA I — Chevelle Herring 6-11 3-4 17, Yvonne Turner 1-7 3-4 6, Kay Broekemeier 0-2 0-0 0, Jade Meads 1-2 1-2 3, Katie Frank 0-2 0-0 0, Katie Smith 1-2 0-0 2, Jackie Knievel 4-5 1-2 9, Megan Neuvirth 4-13 3-6 11, Ashley Nelson 0-2 0-0 0. Total 17-47 11-18 48.

Three-point goals — Kansas 2-8 (Leiker 1-3, Jones 1-1, Adcock 0-2, Hamlin 0-1, Hoyt 0-1). Daubert Pinnacle 3-11 (Herring 2-5, Turner 1-4, Broekemeier 0-1, Nelson 0-1).

Halftime score — Kansas Dream Team 20, Daubert Pinnacle Nebraska 18.