Making their third state tourament apperance in the last seven years under Coach John Malloy, the Jeff West girls suffered a tough overtime loss to #2 seed Frontenac 42-40 in the opening round of 3A State in Hutchinson on Thursday. The Tigers had so many chances despite making only 1 of 24 shots after halftime in the final 20 minutes of the game before ending their season with a 15-9 record.  

Jeff West led through the majority of the first half and retook at 25-24 led at intermission on a three by Kristin Biltoff just before the break.  The Tigers led by as many as eight before Frontenac went on a 12-2 run to start the second quarter.  Both teams scored three points in the third quarter and Jeff West held the ball for the final minute of regulation with the game tied at 34 before Phiefer Peck missed a potential game winning trey in the far corner.  

Biltoff hit a three for the only Tiger field goal to tie the score at 37 in overtime but then fouled out moments later with 17 points. Second leader scorer and senior, Heather Kahler then fouled out with 11 points just a minute later then third leading scorer Mellany Roenne went down went an ankle injury after a seven point game and did return in the final minutes. That left Jeff West with players that had combined for just five total points in the game, but after Frontenac missed three of four free throws in the last 30 seconds, the Tigers still had a chance but had a jumper in the lane by Peck blocked in the closing seconds. 

Frontenac improved to 22-2 despite 22 turnovers and only hitting 13 of 25 free throws in the game and shooting only 35 percent from the field, including 1 of 11 from outside the arc.  Karma Fields scored 15 points while freshman Kynlee Lakey came off the bench with a spark for nine points and Reagen Hipfl added seven.  

The Tigers shot only 19 percent for the game, despite making 20 of 27 from the free line to stay in it. JW was outrebounded by 13 boards and will lose three seniors. Jeff West had won 10 of 12 games including an upset of Riley County to advance to state.