CUBA – A superb 21-win season for Cuba High School’s girls’ basketball team ended in heartache on March 6 when the Lady Wildcats fell to St. James 39-32 in the Class 4 District 3 finals on their home court.

Cuba was the number-one seed in the tournament and defeated St. Clair on March 4 in the semifinals to send them to the finals against second-seeded St. James. The Lady Cats’ 21 wins are the most in the program’s history since the 2009-10 season when the team won 23 games. Cuba still has never won a district title and played in the title game for just the second time (2009-10) in the last 20 seasons. St. James has now won five straight district titles under the guidance of longtime head coach Terry Wells. 

After co-oping with Viburnum and winning 15 games last season, the Lady Wildcats surprised many with a six-win increase as a team that didn’t have a senior. Cuba will return its entire roster, led by its star junior trio of Mya Garbo, Jaylen Haffer and Leah Schmidt and fellow starters junior Annica Farris, sophomore Brooklyn Tate along with freshmen contributors Addison McGinnis and Makayla Wells. Garbo, Haffer and Schmidt all logged double figure scoring averages, and Haffer added nearly 10 rebounds and five steals to her productive season stat line.  

Cuba head coach Evin Farris finished his second year as head coach for the Lady Cats and assistant coach Jayda Weber, who completed her first year as assistant coach, will return next season. Farris spoke after the loss about how his team surpassed his expectations coming into the season.

“Well, I didn’t even know who my fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth player was really to start the season. We didn’t even know who all was going to be here on the team,” he said. “You know, we had some freshmen we knew were coming in who hadn’t had this experience, and didn’t necessarily win tons of games in middle school. So it was a lot of we’re gonna have to really work and really find pieces that fit, and they way, way exceeded my expectation. That’s what I told them. Every time I had an expectation bar that was higher than what I thought we could get to, they reached it. We just kept doing this all season long. That’s how bad they wanted it, and that’s where they got to.”

This is the first time a Farris coached team didn’t have a senior, and he beamed at the thought of having his entire roster back plus the addition of the current eighth-graders for next year’s team.

“I’ve never not lost a player before so that’s a new territory for me. So it’s a pretty cool thing to know, hey, we’ve just had everyone experience this, be in this and we’re getting them all back next year,” Farris said. “Now, it’s just more growth. Keep wanting it, keep believing in yourself, keep putting yourself in the weight room, keep putting yourself in the gym, and remember the feeling that we were close, but we didn’t quite get there, and we want it next year.”

March 4 vs. St. Clair

The first quarter of Cuba’s game versus the St. Clair Lady Bulldogs set the tone for the scrappy battle that would ensue by the two teams hoping to get to the Class 4 district 3 finals. Points were hard to come by and the referees let each team play through contact as fans from both teams let them hear about it throughout the contest.

Both teams struggled to get into an offensive rhythm in the opening frame and Leah Schmidt’s layup in the final seconds gave the Lady Wildcats a 4-2 lead going into the second period. St. Clair settled in during the second quarter, outscoring Cuba 12-6 to take a four point lead into halftime.

Mya Garbo led the charge for the Lady Cats coming out of the halftime break, and knocked down a three-pointer and a free throw to quickly tie the game. Cuba outpaced the Lady Bulldogs 9-2 in the third frame and took a three point lead into the final quarter.

The Lady Cats looked like they were going to pull away in the fourth period. Freshman Addison McGinnis drained a three-pointer that gave Cuba an eight point lead and sent its home crowd into a frenzy as “She’s a freshman” chants admiringly bellowed out from the student section in awe of her clutch contributions in her debut season.

After a timeout, St. Clair responded with an 8-0 run to tie the game and quickly turn the matchup back into a tension-filled affair. With the game knotted at 24, Annica Farris buried a three-pointer that put the Lady Cats temporarily back on top. After a pair of baskets from the Lady Bulldogs and two free throws from Cuba guard Leah Schmidt, the Lady Cats led 29-28 with less than a minute remaining. Schmidt was then fouled again and went to the free throw line with 11 seconds left. She calmly knocked down both attempts and gave Cuba a 31-28 lead. St. Clair had one last chance to tie it and got a good look at a three-pointer to tie the game. But the shot rattled out and the Lady Wildcats escaped with the victory and headed to the district finals. 

Schmidt made all seven of her free throw attempts and finished with a game-high 15 points to lead Cuba. Farris scored six points on two shots from deep and added four rebounds and four deflections on defense. Garbo added five points, seven rebounds, three assists and six steals while providing the Lady cats with relentless effort and toughness to continuously play through contact. Jaylen Haffer scored two points, grabbed 11 rebounds, made seven deflections, and added two steals and two blocks. McGinnis finished with three points, one rebound, one steal and one blocked shot. Brooklyn Tate didn’t score, but had five rebounds and three steals while providing stout defense on St. Clair’s larger post players. St. Clair junior Lila Hinson logged 13 points and four assists to lead the Lady Bulldogs. 

St. James followed Cuba’s style and won a low scoring defense battle over Sullivan in the following matchup, setting up a rematch between the Lady Cats and the Lady Tigers. Cuba defeated St. James 41-35 on Dec. 9 for their first win over the powerhouse program since the 2017-18. 

March 6 vs. St. James

After both teams struggled to score in their respective semifinal matchups two days prior, the Lady Cats and Lady Tigers came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter of the Class 4 District 3 finals. St. James’ leading scorer, junior Payge Kemnitzer, buried a trio of three-pointers and propelled the Lady Tigers to a 17-11 lead heading into the second period. Cuba bounced back early in the second frame and used a 9-3 run to narrow its deficit to two points. But after another Kemnitzer trey and a 6-0 run from the Lady Tigers to end the period, St. James went into halftime up 26-18.

Cuba was able to get within six points in the second half, but St. James always had an answer for a Lady Cat basket. The Lady Tiger’s run at the end of the first half proved to be the difference in the game as the final two quarters were essentially even, and St. James came away with a 7-point victory in delight of the sea of red Lady Tigers fans who made the trip down Route 66 for the showdown. 

Kemnitzer scored 12 of her game-high 15 points in the first half and Farris spoke afterward about how her early shooting success was the x-factor of the game.

“Honestly, I thought shutting down number one (Kemnitzer) was the difference in the game. We did late. Early, we did not,” he said. “That was as a game plan going in. And so that hurt a little bit, knowing that was our game plan, and not living up to it. But I think we had to kind of experience it first to realize that, all right, we weren’t doing our absolute best, and we weren’t doing our job that we talked about. And then we locked in, but then we played even ball the rest of the way.”

One bright spot for Cuba was the play of the freshman, McGinnis. After starting the game off the bench, McGinnis played the entire second half and picked up numerous steals on defense while adding eight points of offense for the Lady Cats. Her coach was quick to credit her for her effort in her first district finals. 

“Addison McGinnis played as hard as she always does every game. She just keeps stepping up,” Farris said. “She’s a freshman, but she plays with a high motor energy level and she knows her job. She’s not gonna back down to anybody. She doesn’t care if you’ve been a three, four time district champ in a row. It doesn’t matter to her, she’s there for the moment.” 

Garbo knocked down a trio of shots from deep and finished with nine points. Haffer also tallied nine points on a trey and three baskets in the paint and Schmidt added six points to round out the scoring for the Lady Cats.