South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Tiger girls battle injuries, lose to Parkway South

By STEPHEN GLOVER

For the Call

That nasty injury bug has bitten the girls’ basketball team at Oakville Senior High School.

The Tigers (9-5, 1-3 Suburban West) suffered a tough 49-40 loss at home against Parkway South last Thursday and ended up a little banged up and bruised.

“We knew going in that it was going to be a battle,” Oakville head coach Paul Har-rington told the Call. “It was a very physical game on the inside and I thought that we were in the game until the end.”

The Tigers may have lost junior center Sherry Zehner for the season due to a possible torn rotator cuff. Zehner averages 12.7 points and 4.6 rebounds a game this season and her loss could be a huge blow for the Tigers.

“We’re not really sure when she’ll be back,” Harrington said. “It breaks our hearts because she’s such a great kid and is such a big part of our team.”

The Tigers also may be without the services of junior guard Megan Reel, who may have broken her middle finger on her left hand. Fortunately, the finger is not on Reel’s shooting hand, which has generated 3.9 points a game and a team-leading 39 assists and 24 steals this season.

“Megan’s really come on here in the last week or so,” Harrington said. “I’ve been really proud of her hustle and attitude.”

Oakville’s Faith Zabek led the Tigers with 17 points, six rebounds and one steal in the loss to Parkway South. The junior guard is averaging 10.9 points and 5.1 rebounds a game this season with 21 steals and five blocked shots.

“With us losing Sherry, that put a lot of pressure on Faith to step it up on our inside game,” Harrington said. “She had a great game and it was a great response to our situation.”

Senior guard Stephanie Dippold contributed 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. Dippold is averaging 7.4 points a game.

“Stephanie’s really come on here in the second half of the season,” Harrington said. “She’s really come along and has improved tremendously and I’m really proud of her effort.”

The Tigers play host to Kirkwood at 7 p.m. Friday in their lone game of the week. Oakville is looking to improve its conference record.

“Right now we need to get healed up so this break’s come at a good time,” Har-rington said. “Their point guard Shania Hurst is an awesome ballplayer and they’re a good, scrappy team.”

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