When the dust settled on final four Saturday for the Southeast Iowa Superconference girls shootout, it was the No. 9 Mediapolis Bullettes and Danville Lady Bears that came away with wins at Highland High School as heard on KCII.

In the title game, it was Mepo from the word go in a 70-41 win. They were able to open up a 21-9 lead after one on north champ Highland and stretch the advantage to 16 at the half. Their defense provided them with their biggest net gain in points in the third when they added an additional 15 to the lead before the fourth. Even after giving up late steals, the Bullettes’ lead was insurmountable, as they cruised to a runaway championship win.

Unofficially, Mepo won rebounds by 17 and turnovers by six. They were paced by 27 points from senior Josie Hutcheson, also seeing Amelia Grier and Grace Holsteen in double figures with 17 and 14, respectively. Highland was led on the afternoon by Kamryn Fink’s 16 after a 10-point fourth quarter. Hailey Brun was named Huskie of the Game with her 15 points to follow. With the win, Mepo stays unbeaten at 21-0 with back-to-back SEISC girls basketball titles, dropping Highland to 19-3.

The runner-up game started off the afternoon with action beginning much like the championship game. Danville opened on a 12-1 run through the entirety of the first period seeing the lead swell to 19 at the half. The Danville defense would continue to bug the Lady Lions in the second half, causing a total of 10 unofficial Lone Tree turnovers in the final two quarters. The Lady Bears added on five to their lead after three and four more in the fourth to capture a 54-26 victory to take home silver.

Unofficially, seven total Lady Bears scored, including a game-high 17 from Alaina Gourley. Danville won both rebounds and turnovers by 14 and one, respectively. The Lady Lions had Finley Jacque lead with 16 in her final shootout game. Danville improves to 14-5 with the win, while Lone Tree falls to 14-7.

Even though the outcomes weren’t what they had hoped, both head coaches joined KCII Sports postgame to explain that they were still proud of their team and their constant fight throughout each game.

“I thought our girls fought throughout the entire four quarters, but we just came up a little short tonight. It’s obviously a very humbling game of basketball, but again, just appreciate our girls’ effort throughout all four quarters,” Lone Tree head coach Ryan Shelman said.

“Our girls played hard. They have nothing to be ashamed of,” Highland head coach Jody Fink said. “Mediapolis is a tough and quality team. Won’t take anything away from Todd [Borrison] and the Mediapolis Bullettes, but we’ve just got to sit there and get ready. Now, new season, everybody’s zero and zero. Moving into postseason and see if we can sit there and put a few wins together and get another run.”

The Lady Lions return next Thursday for their first round regional draw against New London, while Highland pairs off with Winfield-Mt. Union.