Dateline: March 27, 2008

Howard's team takes second in nation again

Hedley’s Rebekah Howard has achieved many things in her career as a basketball player.

She garnered all-state awards and played in a high school state title game and then went on to become a starter and major contributor for College of the Ozarks in Branson, Missiouri, an NAIA Division II school.

Recently the 2004 Hedley High School graduate became the 17th Lady Bobcat to score more than 1,000 points for her career. She was the team’s third leading scorer and leading rebounder and was their premiere post defender, according to Hall of Fame coach George Wilson.

The C of O Lady Bobcats were ranked first in NAIA Division II all year, entering the national tournament with only one loss and that to an NCAA Division II school much larger than theirs.

The national tournament is held annually in Sioux City, Iowa, and the top-ranked Ozarks squad made short work of their first three opponents, winning by an average margin of more than 25 points per game. Teams from Oregon to Maine and California to Michigan competed, but the national semifinals were dominated by Midwest teams from Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri.

The Ozarks played Hastings, Neb., in their national semifinal, and it took two gut-wrenching overtimes to decide the game in favor of the Lady Bobcats. Howard scored 15 points in that contest and pulled down 10 rebounds.

In the national title game, the Ozarks third title game in a row, pitted the Lady Bobcats against the third-ranked Lady Raiders of Iowa’s Northwestern College and their national player Debbie Remmerde.

Howard and the Lady Bobcats had knocked Northwestern out of the tournament last year and led the championship game this year for nearly 35 minutes, but Remmerde, who ended her career as the all-time leading scorer in NAIA Division II, brought her team back to tie the game with 5:26 left.

Remmerde scored 41 points in the game, was 16 for 16 from the free-throw line, and was unstoppable in the final minutes of the title game. The Ozarks had to again settle for a second place finish nationally.

Though disappointed to be denied a national championship, Howard can look back on some wonderful accomplishments and tremendous success in her cage career. While in college, her teams went 135-12, an astounding 0.918 winning percentage.

The last two years have been even better with teams going 68-4 with two of the four losses in national championship games.

Howard will graduate next December with a degree in English from College of the Ozarks.