The Lady Pioneer basketball team was back in action this past weekend at home against CJI. This Lady Pioneer team is scrappy! They are all over the floor, and their on-ball defense is very intense. It’s fun to watch them hustle after every ball. The first team they played was CJI, and they beat them by 13 points with a score of 51-38.
CJI started the game with a nice take to the basket. Jenny Sant got a nice steal and baseline jumper to tie the game at 2. Both teams had a slow start to the game, but it was still action-packed, with Jai Baumann getting a steal and then a nice pass from Kenzie Kallenberger to Eva Yeadon for a bucket. CJI got back-to-back boards, but Jenny got another steal, and Eva knocked down a free throw, putting the Lady Pioneers up by 2 with a score of 5-3. The Lady Pioneers got a spark and another steal from Brianna Terry and Eva, followed by a fast break layup. Keira Galbavy also had a nice take, putting the Lady Pioneers up 9-3. CJI knocked down a couple of free throws, and a double foul was called at the end of the quarter. The score going into the 2nd quarter was 9-5.
CJI started off with some big boards and great ball movement, but they couldn’t get a ball to drop, and that Lady Pioneer defense was very intense. The Lady Pioneers also had two big rebounds from Alex Worrall and Eva. CJI got a nice board and bucket, putting them within 1 with a score of 9-8. The Lady Pioneers also got some big rebounds and a nice pass from Jai to Jenny for 2 points, and another take from Eva for another 2 points, putting the Lady Pioneers back on top 13-8. Brianna also had a nice pass to Eva for another 2 points, and Jenny got 3 rebounds in 3 possessions down the floor. CJI scored on a nice post move, and then Kenzie hit a couple of free-throws, ending the half for the Lady Pioneers up by 7 with a score of 17-10.
The 3rd quarter was a back-and-forth, with CJI constantly pulling within 5 points, but the Lady Pioneers adapted and got a score. Back and forth the whole quarter exchange, ranging from rebounds, steals, buckets, and even turnovers. The Lady Pioneers saw some great plays from Jai with a nice jumper, Keira with a nice jumper, Eva got a board and bucket, and Jai had a nice pass to Alex for 2 points. Jai got a nice steal, which led to a Kenzie 3-pointer, and Jenny had two great plays, one to the middle and one from the baseline. The Lady Pioneers capped off a great quarter with Jai hitting a 3-pointer right at the buzzer, putting them up 9 points with a score of 35-24.
The Lady Pioneers only outscored the CJI Lady Hawks by 2 in the last stanza, but CJI couldn’t capitalize on those big opportunities. CJI shot many free throws in the 4th quarter, which was the main reason they got back in the game, but that Lady Pioneer ball movement and teamwork was just too much for CJI to handle. Jenny again had a great quarter with several rebounds, steals, and buckets. Kenzie had another big 3-pointer, Eva also had some great buckets, a couple of steals, and nice passes, and Jai had some great passes and points. Alex also chipped in on a nice post-move. The final score was 51-38, with the Lady Pioneers coming out on top by 13 points.
Team Stats vs CJI:
Rebounds: 25
Steals: 7
Assists: 18
Free throws: 6/8
Turnovers: 9
Coach Travis wrote, “Friday, we played the undefeated 5-0 CJI Lady Hawks at home. Again, our defense led the way for the Lady Pioneers, holding the Hawks to 38 points and only allowing 10 made baskets on 26% shooting! On the other side, we shoot 40% for the field with 21 made shots, 18 of those being assisted, giving us an 86% rate!
Yeadon led the team in scoring with 15, followed by Sant with 13 and Kallenberger with 8. Sant led the team in rebounding with 8, followed by Baumann with 6. Baumann paced the team with 6 assists, followed by Yeadon with 4 and Sant with 3. Baumann and Sant led the team with 3 steals each, followed by Yeadon with 2. Galbavy had the lone block in the game, but it was a big one.
Defensively, every girl who got on the court played lights out! We held Kammerzell, the district’s current highest scorer, to 12 points.
Our game against 8C rival DGSG on Saturday night was postponed until Tuesday the 14th.
This week, we play Hays/Lodgepole on Friday and are back home on Saturday to host the North Star Lady Knights. We really appreciate all the local support we have been receiving at our games! Thank you all, and Happy New Year!”
