The Pioneer girls beat Turner 52-42 and lost to Chester 55-60. They will play Wednesday afternoon at Districts in Havre at 2:30
Senior night! The coaches made the sentimental decision to start all seniors for their last game in Big Sandy’s gym. Unfortunately, with just a minute and 20 seconds in, the Lady Pioneers lost senior starter Eva Wagoner to injury. The Lady Pioneers had several contributions from all players in the 1st quarter with an Eva Yeadon 3-pointer, a couple of nice drives from Jai Baumann, and a strong rebound and putback from Angie Sant, as well as a nice shot from Keira Galbavy. The Lady Pioneers went into the 2nd quarter up 9 with a score of 15-6.
The Lady Pioneers’ defense stepped up, with several players getting steals and disrupting the Lady Hawks offense. CJI had some great shots outside the key and tried to get within a fighting chance, battling back and coming within 4 points going into halftime.
The 3rd quarter’s pace was much slower than most Lady Pioneer quarters. The Lady Hawks outscored the Lady Pioneers 15-4, with some crucial buckets to go into the last stanza up by two points. The Lady Pioneers found themselves trailing with a score of 29-31.
The 4th quarter was a shootout! A battle back and forth. This was a quarter of play you didn’t want to miss. Galbavy opened up the quarter with two big blocks. Susie Sant scored a big AND1. Yeadon had several great takes to the basket and a 3-pointer. Baumann had some great steals, hustle plays, and a 3-pointer. Every Lady Pioneer left it all on the court for the final home game. Unfortunately, CJI scored 7 three-pointers, and the Lady Pioneers fell short in the last minute of the game, losing by 5 with a score of 55-60.
The Big Sandy Lady Pioneers and the Turner Lady Tornados both started struggling a bit with controlling the ball and making solid passes. Still, as both teams settled in, Big Sandy began to dominate. The Lady Pioneers had great offensive contributions from Eva Wagoner with fast break layups and jumpers, Jai Baumann with some great passes and takes to the middle and a 3-pointer. Keira Galbavy had some great rebounds and solid post-moves. Eva Yeadon had a great steal and some nice takes and jumpers. The Pioneers went up 13 points into the 2nd quarter with a score of 23-10.
Turner started the quarter out strong, and the Lady Pioneers got into foul trouble early, putting Turner at the free-throw line for easy points. The Lady Tornadoes started the quarter with a 7-2 run against the Lady Pioneers. With several Lady Pioneers in foul trouble, Turner pulled within 7 points, breaking Big Sandy’s press several times down the floor. After a couple of buckets from Angie Sant and a baseline jumper from Wagoner, the Lady Pioneers went into halftime up 8 points with a score of 32-24.
The Lady Tornadoes came out of halftime with a quick score pulling within 6 points. Yeadon had some great steals and passes to Wagoner; Galbavy also had a great pass to Alex Worrall for 2 points. Worrall then had a great steal, and Baumann took a charge, giving the Lady Pioneers some momentum, putting Big Sandy on top by 14 points going into the last stanza with a score of 44-30.
The Lady Pioneers showed patience on offense and ran a slower pace game in the 4th quarter to keep their lead. Bonus free throws played a factor in the last few minutes of the game, and Turner could not catch Big Sandy. Jai Baumann scored an AND1 to help finish the game with a win for the Lady Pioneers with a final score of 52-42.
