By DELBERT PETERS

Staff writer

The Goessel girls basketball team came home from Wakefield with a 37-36 loss Friday.

The Bluebirds trailed 9-6 at the end of the first quarter and trailed 17-9 at halftime.

Goessel still trailed 28-20 at the end of three quarters and then began to close the gap for the final surge of the game.

As the game neared the end, the Bluebirds trailed by 3 points. Goessel had the ball and called timeout, but had more than half the length of the court to go in three seconds. Jessica Harvey caught a pass and prepared to launch a long shot at the buzzer, but was fouled by a Wakefield player. Harvey stepped to the line and sank the first two free throws but missed the third to get the Bluebirds within a point for a final score of 37-36.

Alex Hiebert led the Bluebirds with 10 points. Harvey scored 7 points with 4 steals. Johanna Hoffman scored 5 points and 4 assists, Shanna Klassen scored 5 points with 8 rebounds and 4 assists, and D’Ambra Kruger scored 5 points. Aimee Flaming scored 2 points and Jennifer Van Horn scored 2 points to go along with 3 blocks.

Moundridge

On Dec. 14, the Bluebird girls hit better than 50 percent from the free-throw line, but Moundridge’s defense prevented them from taking shots. Goessel’s only point in the first quarter came from a Klassen free throw. The Wildcats built a 14-1 lead at the end of the first quarter and the Bluebird deficit just got worse.

Four 3-pointers for the Bluebirds described the offense in the second and third quarters with Aimee Flaming, Harvey, Johanna Hoffman, and Kruger each making one. Klassen finished the scoring for the Bluebirds with 6 fourth-quarter points as the Bluebirds went to the locker room with a loss, 52-21.

Klassen led the team with 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 assists. Harvey, Flaming, Kruger, and Hoffman each scored 3 and Alex Hiebert 1.

The Goessel girls are now 1-5 overall and 0-1 in the Wheat State League.