The Pioneers had more of a challenge from the Thunderbirds to start their game but won 53-40. The Pioneers started in a 3/4 press and had excellent ball pressure to make the Thunderbirds make a couple of turnovers. Big Sandy started in a high-low offense and had great ball movement. They had several great offense sets coming from Strutz with a 3-pointer, Galbavy with a post move, Cline with a long 3-pointer, and Strutz with a couple of steals and a Pedraza steal, putting the Pioneers up 3 going into the 2nd quarter. The second quarter was a lot like the first, with a great bucket by Cooper Taylor after a Strutz steal. Hays and Big Sandy had turnovers back and forth, exchanging boards and buckets. The Pioneers got a nice 3-pointer from Jake Darlington and also a Strutz and Pedraza drive and make. Hays missed a couple of buckets and ended up going in at halftime down 21-26.
Hays struggled to keep up with the Pioneers coming out at halftime and only relied on keeping the ball on one side of the floor. Big Sandy had great ball pressure and defense, causing Hays to be unable to capitalize on any offensive set. Fouls were a factor in the 3rd and 4th quarters, getting both teams to the free-throw line. After some putbacks and 3-pointers at the end of the game, the Pioneers came away with a win. The final score of 53-40.
Big Sandy won the rebounding for the night with a total of 34, with Hays having 25. Pedraza leads the team with 13 rebounds himself. He was also high point with 16, followed by Tylor with 11, and Strutz with 10. Big Sandy lost the turnovers for the night with nine turnovers, while Hays only had two. What helped Big Sandy was the 14 steals. Leading in the steals for Big Sandy was Taylor, who had four. They shot 39% from the field and 22% at three-point shots.
The Lady Pioneers, winning the game 56-40, started pretty even with the Lady Thunderbirds, trading baskets and turnovers, but Eva Yeadon put a spark under the girls with a coast-to-coast layup, followed by another bucket the next time down the floor, putting the Lady Pioneers up 10-4. After a steal by Jai Baumann and Yeadon, the girls went up 14-4. The Lady Thunderbirds didn’t give up, though, and got more into an offensive flow and got a couple of buckets themselves. Yeadon hit a 3-pointer and some free throws to put them up 23-12. Fouls plagued the 2nd quarter, but both teams had great drives to the basket and good ball movement. After trading fouls and free throws from both teams, the Lady Pioneers went into halftime up 36-23.
The 2nd half started slow for the Lady Pioneers as they were held scoreless for the first 3 minutes. The Lady Thunderbirds also had opportunities to score but only scored 3 points in the first 3 minutes. Both teams struggled to get any rhythm going, and the score going into the 4th quarter was 40-28. Hays did their best to have a final push to the end of the game scoring 10 points in the last few mins of the game. Big Sandy also didn’t give up and kept their lead by staying strong on defense and taking their time to get into an offensive flow. The Lady Pioneers won the game by 16 points with a final score of 56-40.
Eva Yeadon led all scorers with 30 points, shooting 61% from the field and 67% at 3 points. She also led the team in rebounds, collecting 10. Big Sandy had 15 steals in the game, with Baumann having 5 herself. The Pioneers had 12 assists compared to none for Hays. Baumann led the team with five.
