Hillsboro, Goessel win; Marion falls short of upset
Staff writer
Hillsboro
The Trojans continued their undefeated campaign with a 44-30 victory Friday over Southeast of Saline.
Savannah Shahan finished with 18 points in 31 minutes played. Zaylee Werth pulled down 10 rebounds, five on defense and five on offense.
“Great road win against a top 10 3A team,” coach Micah Ratzlaff said. “Our defense was the key to our victory.
“We were able to hold their best two players to seven and three points. We got a little stagnant in the third quarter against their zone but we were getting good shots. I told the girls, ‘Just keep doing what you are doing; those shots will start to fall,’ and they did.”
The Trojans will play host for their second home game of the season Jan. 2 against Hutch Trinity.
Goessel
Goessel’s defense vaulted the girls into a 16-2 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 28-8 lead at halftime.
The Bluebirds’ offense in the third period cooled as both teams scored 11 points.
Fouls plagued the White City girls, and the Bluebirds connected on 75% of their free-throws.
By the end of the game, eight players recorded points as wins Goessel, 54-31.
The Bluebirds recorded 18 steals en route to the victory.
It was the first Wheat State League game for both teams.
Cheyenne Sawyer and Greta Scholle each scored 13 points, Aimee and Abbigail Funk each tallied 8 points, and Jaicee Griffin added 7.
Goessel will go on the road Jan. 5 to play Solomon.
Marion
The Warriors barely got edged out of a potential upset Thursday, losing 46-45 to Medicine Lodge.
Grace Hett led the team with 17 points, followed by Erin Regnier and Kenna Wesner with 10 points each.
Wesner crashed the boards for two rebounds on offense and eight on defense.
All three of the girls played 33 minutes.
“I thought our girls came out and played with good energy coming off our first long bus trip of the season and competed in a game that went back and forth,” coach Jason Hett said. “We did a really nice job on their big girl and shut her down.
“The game for us came down to turnovers and free throws. We did not do a good enough job handling the basketball and missed too many opportunities to put the game away at the free throw line.”
The Warriors will face Bennington on the road Jan. 2.
“As we enter break, we will continue to focus on valuing the basketball and becoming stronger with the ball,” Hett said. “We have got to continue to learn the game and understand game situations to finish games.”
Centre
The Cougars are still looking for their first victory of the season after a 57-14 loss Friday at Canton-Galva.
Jenna Bittle and Sophia Luna lead the team, averaging three points per game.
Ryleigh Jones leads with an average of four rebounds a game.
Jimena Sanchez averages two steals a game.
Centre will return home Jan. 5 to play Wakefield.
Peabody-Burns
The Warriors dropped one to Herington at home Friday, losing 60-12.
“We had too many turnovers and didn’t rebound very well,” coach Thomas Spencer said. “After halftime we ran our offensive sets pretty well but missed some shots. We did play better defense after the half,” Spencer said.
Peabody-Burns will play Jan. 5 against Little River.