The Big Sandy Pioneer girls and boys Varsity basketball teams began 2017 with a pair of contests against the Box Elder Bears and the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks.
The Bears jumped out early in both contest but both the boys and girls teams competed hard for the full 32 minutes. The girls fell to Box Elder 72-11 while the boys put up some points before falling 91-63.
Junior Jenna Leader scored five points in the girls contest while senior Bryant Jones led the boys effort with 25 points. Senior Laurence Allderdice added 12 and freshman Ryan Roth 13.
Against the Hawks the girls were dealt another tough loss 46-37. Sophomore Jaylyn Cline paced the way with 17 markers and Leader added 12.The boys picked up a huge District 9C win over Chester-J-I, outscoring the Hawks 32-24 in the second half to pick up a 65-55 win.
In a game full of whistles, the teams combined for 102 free throw attempts with six players fouling out and four more with four each.
Big Sandy's senior duo of Jones and Allderdice combined for 17 points down the stretch to push the Pioneers to victory.
Jones finished with 26 points in the win, Allderdice added 23 when things were all said and done. Freshman Ryan Roth chipped in 11.
The teams will head to Turner on Friday, January 13th to take on the Tornadoes. Saturday both teams will be back home to face the North Star Knights as District 9C play gets to the heart of its schedule.
