Contributing writer
Against the highly ranked Cougars at Centre, the Goessel Bluebird girls pushed the home team into overtime before falling 67-58.
Goessel started the game attacking from the inside as Alicen Meysing hit from close range and Page Hiebert knocked in two field goals and two free throws. The Bluebirds trailed 11-8 at the end of the first quarter.
To begin the second quarter, Hiebert hit two points, Alyssa Booton finished off a nice pass, Meysing scored, and Aleena Cook went to the free-throw line for two of her 19 points for the night. Goessel tied the game at 18 and the first half ended with Centre leading 26-20.
The Bluebirds had a scoring burst to begin the third period with Makayla King finishing a nice pass. Hiebert and Meysing scored baskets and Cook poured in seven points with a 3-pointer off the glass to take a 33-30 lead. Olivia Duerksen hit two free throws and Goessel led at the end of three quarters, 35-34.
Cook hit another 3, Meysing scored, and Erin Brubaker hit for her first points of the game to give Goessel a 42-37 lead. Centre made a move and took a lead, but a Brubaker 3-pointer tied the game at 47 with 3:30 to play.
Booton hit two free throws and Meysing hit a soft jumper to force a Cougar timeout with Goessel ahead 53-50. Centre tied the game with a 3-pointer with 30 seconds to play, and Goessel could not find the offense to win. In overtime, Centre exploded for seven consecutive points. After another Cook 3-pointer, the Cougars could play the clock and hit enough free throws to win 67-58.
Scoring for the Bluebirds were Cook, 19; Meysing, 12 (with 12 rebounds); Hiebert, 12; Booton, 6; Brubaker, 5; King, 2; and Duerksen, 2.
The Goessel girls are now 1-3 in the Wheat State League and 4-9 overall. Goessel is hoping to pick up some wins this week with the final two League games at home: Thursday is a rescheduled game from last week with Little River and Friday is against Peabody-Burns.