This past weekend, the Lady Pioneers basketball team faced off against two very tough teams. At home, they faced Fort Benton, number one in the district, on Senior night, then turned around and played Box Elder at Box Elder for their Senior night. Friday night’s games consisted of 8 lead changes, and the Lady Pioneers lost by 1 point with a score of 44-45. Saturday, they won a hard-fought thriller in overtime. The final score was the Lady Pioneers winning by 11, scoring 76-65.
Friday night, the Lady Pioneers started with a great rebound and pass by Kenzie Kallenberger to Eva Yeadon for a fast-break layup. Eva also had a great pass to Jenny Sant on a back cut and an AND1, giving the Lady Pioneers an early lead of 5-2. Jai Baumann had a great pass to Brianna Terry for a bucket, and Jai also had a great take for 2 points herself. Kenzie also had a steal and a nice pass to Brianna for a fast-break layup. Fort Benton matched every bucket the Lady Pioneers had, but the Lady Pioneers went up 2 at the end of the quarter, with a score of 13-11.
The 2nd quarter started off with a steal for Jenny, as well as a nice drive. Brianna Terry also hit a big 3-pointer, and Kenzie had a great pass to Eva for a fast-break layup. Kenzie also had a steal, and Elaina Weaver had a rebound. The Lady Pioneers scored 4 points to end the half with a score of 23-19.
In the 3rd quarter, Fort Benton outscored the Lady Pioneers by 5 points, putting them up by 1 point in the last stanza. Eva knocked down some big free throws and scored on a pass from Brianna. Kenzie and Jai also scored on some free throws, and Alex Worrall had a rebound.
The fourth quarter was action-packed, with four lead changes alone. Kenzie had a big three-pointer, and Elaina also scored a bucket with a pass from Jenny to take back the lead again. Eva had a big steal and fast-break layup, and Kenzie had another three-pointer. Kenzie had a great pass to Alex for a big bucket, but the Lady Pioneers ended up short of winning and lost by one point with a final score of 44-45.
Team Stats vs Fort Benton: Rebounds: 27 with Eva having 11; Free-throws: 8/11; Steals: 6 with Kenzie having 2; Assists: 12 with Kenzie having 4; and Turnovers: 19
The Lady Pioneers then played Box Elder on Saturday, and it was a very intense, fast-paced, and aggressive game. The first quarter was back and forth, with both teams trading buckets. Box Elder really crashed the defensive boards and didn’t give the Lady Pioneers many opportunities for second-chance shots. The Lady Pioneers went up by 2 with a score of 14-12 off of buckets from Eva with 6 points, Kenzie with a 3-pointer, Jai with an AND1, and Alex with a jumper at the end of the quarter.
In the second quarter, Box Elder took advantage of some rebounds and turnovers from the Lady Pioneers and went up 9 points going into halftime. Jai had 5 points off of a 3-pointer and a nice drive to the basket. Eva had 4 points off of a great pass from Jenny and a jumper. Jenny scored off some free throws. Kenzie and Alex were also contributors, with some rebounds and steals. The score going into halftime was 27-36, with the Lady Pioneers down 9.
The second half was crazy! It was very intense, aggressive, and fast-paced, with back-and-forth buckets, fouls, steals, and even turnovers. Both teams left it all on the court. The Lady Pioneers came back from being down 9 last in the last quarter, and after some big steals and made buckets, they came within 2 points. With just seconds left in the game, Jai made a great pass to Alex to tie the game and send them into overtime.
In overtime, the Lady Pioneers dominated with the pressure of their full-court press. The Lady Pioneers held Box Elder to just 3 points while they themselves scored 14 points. At one point, Box Elder had turned the ball over every possession they had, and the Lady Pioneers pulled away with a HUGE victory on Senior night in Box Elder with a final score of 76-65.
Team Stats vs Box Elder: Rebounds: 31 with Eva having 13; Free-throws: 14/30; Steals: 16 with Jai having 5; Assists: 20 with Jai having 7; and Turnovers: 13
Friday night was senior night against Fort Benton. We lost 44-45 in a hard-fought battle with the top two teams in the 9C. We had 13 assists on 16 made baskets for an 81% assist rate. Yeadon and Kallenberger led the team with 11 points each, followed by Sant with 7. Yeadon led the team with 10 rebounds, followed by Sant with 5 and Worrall with 4. Kallenberger led the team with 4 assists, Sant with 3 and Baumann, Yeadon and Terry with 2 each. Baumann led the team with 3 steals, followed by Sant and Kallenberger with 2 each.
Saturday, we traveled to Box Elder to take on the Lady Bears. We won 76-65 overtime in a hard-fought battle. We had 21 assists on 28 made shots for a 75% assist rate. Yeadon led the team in scoring with 29, followed by Baumann with 25 and Worrall with 8. Yeadon led the team with 14 rebounds, Worrall with 8, and Sant with 6. Baumann led the team in assists with 8, Sant with 5, and Kallenberger with 3. Sant and Baumann led the team with 5 steals, followed by Yeadon with 4. Kallenberger had the lone block in the game.
On Thursday at 12:30, the Lady Pioneers take on the Lady Bears to start the District 9C tournament. The Lady Pioneers are the #2 seed. We hope to see you all at Havre High
