BASKETBALL: Lady Falcons stun Sandoval in regional opener
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Elverado jumped ahead 21-8 after the first quarter and held off a late charge by Sandoval to advance to Wednesday's Elkville Regional semifinal with a 45-44 victory on Monday night.
Lacey Qualls' put-back with ten seconds to go gave the Lady Falcons a one-point lead and Elverado forced a tough shot by the Lady Braves at the other end to secure their third victory overall on the season.
"We played a lot of close ones all year, we finally won one," said Elverado head coach Lance Bedar. "It couldn't come at a better time."
Seniors Sami Hicks and Chelsea Cochran came out firing for Elverado, both hitting a pair of three-pointers during a dominating first period for the Lady Falcons.
"(Cochran and Hicks) started smoking hot," Bedar said. "We shot 7-for-12 in the first quarter, that's a good way to start a regional game."
Hicks added her third three in the second, and Elverado went to halftime clinging to a 28-19 lead after Kristen Perkins' three-point play just before the break.
Rebecca Korando hit a lay-up, then Cochran and Qualls each hit three-pointers as the Lady Falcons started the second half with an 8-0 run, but the Lady Braves answered right back with 7 unanswered points of their own.
Qualls added another three near the end of the period and Elverado led 39-27 heading to the fourth, where they would have to fight off a serious push by Sandoval.
The Lady Falcons didn't hit a field goal in the final quarter until there was just 1:22 to play, allowing Sandoval to tie the game with a 14-1 run that included two triples from Brooke Rhodes.
"We tried to give it away," Bedar said "We made some shots, got a lead and held on for dear life, that's about it."
Qualls stuck one back for a two-point lead, but with 24 seconds left, Alli Tolka stole the ball away from Cochran and drove in for a fast break lay-up and a foul. Tolka's free throw put the third-seeded Lady Braves up 44-43, but there was still plenty of time for sixth-seeded Elverado to get a shot.
Cochran drove to her left and put up a shot that was just off, but with around 10 seconds on the clock, Qualls grabbed the rebound and made another put-back that sent the home crowd into a frenzy and the Lady Falcons into the next round.
Sandoval came up empty at the other end and Korando grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 2.8 seconds left, putting an end to the Lady Braves' comeback.
Qualls finished with a team-best 15 points, Hicks was right behind her with 14. Cochran added 9, Korando 5 and Jennifer Sarensen 2.
Elverado moves on to Wednesday night's 8:00 p.m. Regional semifinal where they will meet up with number two seed Centralia (Christ Our Rock Lutheran) with the winner of that game heading to Thursday night's 7:30 p.m. championship.