The Lady Pioneers are headed to Divisionals! After going 3-1 this past weekend, the Lady Pioneers earned 3rd place and a trip to Great Falls for the Northern C Divisional Tournament. The Lady Pioneers first played Box Elder on Thursday night and won 66-30. The next day, they played CJI and lost by 5 points, 51-56. So on Saturday, they faced Turner and won 55-43, putting them in the consolation game facing Box Elder again. They beat Box Elder and took 3rd with a final score of 60-42.
I will summarize tournament games instead of doing play-by-play for the sake of space in the paper, but I will do my best to address everyone’s contributions to their team.
Eva Yeadon led the way in the first game against Box Elder with 35 points, 2 assists, 1 block, and 4 steals. She also had 14 rebounds and shot 2/4 from the free-throw line. Jai Baumann had 10 points, 6 assists, and 7 steals and hit 3 out of 4 from the free-throw line. Jenny Sant had 6 points, 3 assists, and 6 rebounds, while Kenzie Kallenberger had 5 points, 4 steals, and 6 rebounds. Other contributors for the Lady Pioneers was Keira Galbavy and Alex Worrall each with 4 points. Korbyn Jurenka had 3 rebounds and 3 steals, while Elaina Weaver also helped on the boards with 3 herself. The Lady Pioneers outscored Box Elder 27-6 in the second quarter and never slowed down; the Lady Pioneers had 47 rebounds and only had 9 turnovers as a team. They ended up winning by 36 points with a final score of 66-30.
In the 2nd game against CJI, the Lady Pioneers started out on top by 4 in the 1st quarter, and even though CJI would pull within one point, the Lady Pioneers would pull ahead each time, making the lead 5 points at the half. In the 3rd quarter, CJI would pull within 1 point again, but the Lady Pioneers kept their lead going into the 4th quarter up 3 points. The Lady Pioneers had a couple of crucial turnovers in the last few minutes of the game, which CJI took advantage of and pulled ahead of the Lady Pioneers, and won by 5 points with a score of 51-56. Eva led the way for the Lady Pioneers, having 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Jai also had a big game with 20 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals. The Lady Pioneers had 24 rebounds and shot 7 for 9 from the free-throw line.
The Lady Pioneers then moved into Loser Out action against Turner, and Eva led the way again with 11 points and 12 rebounds, followed by Kenzie with 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 100% from the free-throw line. Jai and Keira added 8 points, while Jenny and Alex each chipped in 4. Alex had 8 rebounds, Jai had 7 assists, and 4 steals. The Lady Pioneers had 35 rebounds and ended up cruising past Turner to head to the 3rd place game against Box Elder one more time. The final score against Turner was 55-43.
In their 4 games in 3 days, the Lady Pioneers faced an aggressive Box Elder team. The Lady set the pace early, even when Box Elder had a little 6-0 run on the Lady Pioneers. The Lady Pioneers had 3 players in double digits for points; Jai and Eva, both with 17, and Kenzie, with 15. Jenny also chipped in 7 points. Eva had 13 rebounds, Jai had 7, and Jenny and Alex had 4. Jai led the way in assists with 6, while Jenny led the way in steals with 4. The Lady Pioneers had 34 rebounds and only 8 turnovers as a team. They beat Box Elder a second time with a score of 60-42.
The Lady Pioneers also had several ladies come off the bench and add their contributions to help these Lady Pioneers head to Divisionals next weekend! The Lady Pioneers had a great District tournament, and I’m excited to watch these girls mix it up at Divisionals. Cheer them on this weekend in Great Falls.
