The Lady Pioneers faced two tough teams this weekend that gave them a run for their money, but these girls held their ground, battled hard, and came away with two wins. They beat Fort Benton by 3 points, with a final score of 40-37, and Box Elder by 25 points, with a score of 69-44.
The Lady Pioneers started very dominant against Fort Benton, causing them to have a shot clock violation. The game was a very fast-paced, aggressive game with great defense. Fort Benton got no points on the board for the first 3 minutes. Jai Bauman had a couple of big steals and fast break layups. Eva Yeadon had a big board and bucket and a great pass to Jai for another fast-break layup with 5 seconds left in the quarter. The Lady Pioneers went up 12-6 at the end of the 1st quarter.
Kenzie Kallenberger had a big quarter with a couple of steals and a 3-pointer to start the 2nd quarter. Jai also had a fast break layup from a great pass from Kenzie. Alex Worrall also had two big boards and a take down the middle for 2 points. Eva had a 3-pointer and a great take as well. Brianna Terry had a big hustle move for a rebound. The Lady Pioneers knocked down some big free throws and pulled away by 21 points with a score of 27-6. After a nice post move and some free throws, Fort Benton put 5 more points on the board before the end of the half. The Lady Pioneers went into halftime up 17 points with a score of 28-11.
Fort Benton came out strong in the second half and actually outscored the Lady Pioneers 13-8 in the third quarter. Jenny Sant always has such hustle and grit on defense and got a couple of big boards and hustle plays. Elaina Weaver also had a nice jumper. Korbyn Jurenka had a big 3-pointer, but Fort Benton pulled within 8 points at the end of the third quarter.
In the last stanza, Fort Benton held the Lady Pioneers scoreless for 7 minutes, only scoring 4 points from Eva with a jumper and some free throws. The game did come down to the last minute after Big Sandy fouled on a bucket. Fort Benton scored, and AND1 put them within 3 points with 48 seconds left. The Lady Pioneers pulled away with the win and ended up winning by 3 points with a score of 40-37.
Team Stats vs Fort Benton: Rebounds: 28 with Eva having 11, Free-throws: 9/14, Steals: 13 with Jai having 5, Assists: 9 with Kenzie 4, and Turnovers: 8
The next night, the Lady Pioneers hosted the Lady Bears and won by 25 points, but the whole game was a battle. The Lady Bears struggled with that Lady Pioneers press but stayed within 6 points the whole first quarter. The Lady Pioneers had a nice pass from Jai to Alex to start the game, a big board from Jenny and Eva, and a jumper from Eva. Kenzie also had a steal, and Eva had a great pass to Kenzie to Jai for a nice fast break layup. Jai had a nice pass down low to Elaina for a nice bucket, and Elaina also had a nice rebound and jumper, helping the Lady Pioneers go up by 6 points with a score of 15-9 at the end of the 1st quarter.
The Lady Pioneers saw a different Box Elder in the second quarter and fought for every board and loose ball. The Lady Bears pulled within 3 points, but the Lady Pioneers had some great plays from Genavieve Nissen, with a take in the middle and a nice jumper, as well as contributing on the glass and grabbing a rebound. Jenny and Jai got a few rebounds, and Kenzie hit a 3-pointer, as did Eva. But the Lady Pioneers went into halftime up 3 with a score of 26-23.
The second half was great back-and-forth action, with the Lady Pioneers pulling ahead and the Lady Bears chipping away. The Lady Bears would stay within 4 points, but the Lady Pioneers dug deep and made some big crucial plays to help the Lady Pioneers pull ahead by 12 after the end of the 3rd. All the Lady Pioneers on the floor in the 3rd quarter all contributed. Whether it was a rebound, a steal, a nice drive, or a 3-pointer, these girls all worked together and had great passes for some great points. Going into the last quarter, the Lady Pioneers were up by 12 with a score of 48-36.
The Lady Pioneers pulled ahead by 25 points thanks to great plays from Alex, Brianna, Elaina, Genavieve, Carmen Tan, and Mackenzie Werk, who scored a final bucket. The final score was 69-44.
Team Stats vs Box Elder: Rebounds: 31 with Jai having 7, Free-throws: 10/20, Steals: 16 with Kenzie having 5, Assists:22 with Jai having 9, Turnovers: 10
Coach Travis said, "On Friday night, the Lady Pioneers went to play Fort Benton. The Pioneer ladies came out with great defense and almost equal offense, pulling out to a 28-11 lead at the half. The second half was almost the opposite: Fort Benton scored 26, while the Pioneers could only muster 12 points. While it wasn't the win we were looking for, we will still take the win. Yeadon led the team with 21, followed by Baumann with 9.
On Saturday night, the Lady Bears of Box Elder came to town. While the Lady Pioneers played a more complete game than we did against Fort Benton, we still didn't play a full four quarters. The defense did its job again, holding the Lady Bears to 44 points while putting up 69 points. We had four girls in double digits, with Yeadon leading the way with 17, followed by Baumann, Sant, and Weaver, each with 10.
Next week, we play three games: Thursday in Winifred, we host Cascade on Friday, and Turner on Saturday.
