Bluebirds bounce back for win

By DELBERT PETERS

Staff writer

Shaking off a tough loss to Halstead, the Goessel girls rebounded Saturday with a grind-it-out 43-41 win against Wichita Trinity to capture third place in a tournament at Berean Academy.

After trailing 18-10 at the end of the first quarter, the Bluebirds chipped away at the deficit. Goessel trailed 24-20 at half-time and still trailed 36-34 at the end of three periods.

“The girls really stepped up their defense down the stretch,” coach Ryan Hoopes said.

Goessel held the Knights to 5 points in the decisive fourth quarter, squeaking out a 43-41 win.

“Our girls looked poised and confident,” Hoopes said.

Eden Hiebert scored 19, including 11 free-throws, and Brittney Hiebert added 11.

Both Hieberts were selected for the all-tournament team.

The finale was a welcome turnabout from a Thursday loss to Halstead in which the Dragons seemed to dare Goessel to shoot the long ball.

Although the Bluebirds hit 5 3-pointers, they shot just 29 percent from 2-point range. Halstead led 17-11 at the end of the first period and 33-17 at the half. The Dragons led by as many as 23 early in the fourth quarter, but a run by the Bluebirds cut the losing margin to 56-39.

Brittney Hiebert was the only Bluebird in double digits with 11.

Piling up 20 assists and 20 steals, the girls cruised to a 56-44 win in the first round over Minneapolis. Eden Hiebert led the Bluebirds with 23 points followed by Brittney Hiebert with 12.

The team got point production up and down the lineup during the tournament. Across all three games, Stephany Meyer and Abby Hannon each scored 16, with Marina Bidegain, 7, Kara Burkholder, 6, Madison Smith, 5, Leah Booton, 4, and Emily Meier, 3, rounding out the scoring.

Boys

In a low-scoring contest Friday, the Goessel boys lost to Moundridge 40-29.

Goessel surprised the visitors by jumping ahead 10-5, but a dismal 2-point third period had them trailing the Wildcats by 11. Dylan Lindeman scored 10 of Goessel’s 12 fourth-quarter points, but Moundridge coasted to a 40-29 win.

Lindeman hit for 13 and Jordan Griffin added 10.