LOGANSPORT — The Lapel Bulldogs were familiar with the trip north to Logansport and playing games in the Berry Bowl.
It’s where they won the first semistate title in school history a season ago.
But unlike a year ago, the outcome on the court wasn’t in their favor this time.
On Saturday, in the semistate semifinals, Lapel fell 56-38 to Fort Wayne Bishop Luers (19-6) who went on to defeat Andrean 49-36 to reach their 10th state championship game in school history and their first since 2012.
For the Bulldogs, Saturday’s game marked the end of one of the most important senior classes in school history.
The five-player group of Maddy Poynter, Jocelyn Love, Rosemary Likens, AnnaLee Stow and Gracie Clark were all integral parts of the Bulldogs’ back-to-back historic seasons.
After going 10-11 in their freshman season, the Bulldogs turned things around and went 17-8 three seasons ago, before compiling their best season in school history last year.
As juniors, this year’s senior class helped the Bulldogs win Madison County, sectional, regional and semistate championships. The state championship appearance was the first in school history and the team finished the year with a 22-8 record.
This year, they had hopes of matching those accomplishments.
And they nearly did.
They won the county championship once again and defended their sectional and regional titles.
Against a tough Luers team, though, the road ended there.
Thirteen first-half turnovers led to an early deficit that the Bulldogs couldn’t come back from. On the day, Lapel turned the ball over 18 times.
Luers 6-foot-2 sophomore Miley Wareing scored the game’s first six points before Laniah Wills answered with a pair of baskets.
But the Knights pushed the lead to 14-8 by the end of the first quarter and held the lead the entirety of the game.
A Likens 3-pointer trimmed the Luers lead down to three in the second quarter, but by halftime the Knights led by six.
In the third quarter, the Bulldogs cut the lead to three once again after a Love trey and Wills basket, but, again, the Knights responded, and when the fourth quarter came around, they pulled away.
A 6-0 Luers run pushed the Lapel deficit to 14 early in the fourth quarter, and the Knights carried that momentum the rest of the way for the 18-point win.
Poynter, who will continue her basketball career at Grace College, scored nine points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out three assists and had two steals.
In her three seasons at Lapel, she finished just 17 points shy of the 1,000 career point mark.
Stow scored eight points and both Love and Likens added three.
The Bulldogs were led by their standout sophomore, Wills. She scored 15 points and pulled down eight rebounds.