Girls’ teams fare slightly better
Staff writers
Girls’ teams seemed to outperform boys’ teams in a weekend of early-season tournament play.
Hillsboro
The Trojans finished a Moundridge tournament with two victories and one loss.
The only loss came Friday against host Moundridge, with the Trojans losing 38-27.
“I was pleased with the team’s effort in Friday’s game along with the entire week,” coach Micah Ratzlaff said. “The team finished the week with a good win against Lyons.” Ratzlaff said.
On Saturday, the Trojans decisively beat Lyons 51-14.
“We were able to get better this week and I believe we got a lot tougher playing three games in four days,” Ratzlaff said.
In the game against Lyons, Kingzley Ratzlaff and Ella Potucek led the team in scoring with 14 points each.
Potucek pulled down four offensive and four defense rebounds as well.
“It will not get any easier the last week before break with games against Halstead and Southeast of Saline,” Ratzlaff said. “We will see how we can match up against the best of 3A. Should be fun.”
Hillsboro will travel Friday to Southeast of Saline this Friday for it last game before break.
Marion
The Warriors captured their first victory of the season Friday night against Central Christian, winning 39-24.
This put Warriors in contention for third place Saturday at their 18th annual Marion Classic tournament.
Playing against Conway Springs for third on Saturday, the Warriors lost, 54-25.
“Our girls are working hard,” coach Jason Hett said.
“We have a couple areas where we need to continue to get better at as we move forward,” Hett said.
Hailey Harshman led her team on offense against Conway Springs, scoring 10 points.
Kiersten Wildin scored nine, all from beyond the three-point line.
“Our decision making and ability to handle pressure is something we will continue to work on,” Hett said.
Marion will be on the road Friday night against Sterling for its last game before break.
Goessel
The Goessel girls won one game and lost two during their Bluebird Classic.
Against Canton-Galva in the first game of the tournament, the Bluebirds never led.
Goessel fell behind by 22 at the end of the third quarter and lost, 53-36. Bella O’Neill led the Bluebirds with 16 points.
Against a strong team from Linn, Goessel fell behind early and never could recover from a suffocating defense. Goessel lost 50-16. Delaney Duerksen led the Bluebirds with five points.
For the first time in this tournament the Bluebirds had a half-time lead, 26-25, against Elyria Christian.
Midway through the third quarter, however, the Eagles snatched the lead back. Three-pointers from Delaney Duerksen and Bella O’Neill and a basket from close range by Isabelle Alderfer helped the Bluebirds to a 39-31 lead.
Elyria again took the lead 43-42 with three minutes to play. Abbigail Johnson muscled in five points for the Bluebirds, and two free-throws from O’Neill sealed a 49-46 victory for Goessel.
O’Neill ended with 18 points followed by Duerksen with 10.
Goessel will play Friday at Douglass in a non-league contest.
Centre
The Cougars finished with one win and two losses at the Herington basketball tournament this weekend.
On Thursday, Centre lost to Clifton-Clyde 66-16.
On Friday, Centre lost to Rural Vista 57-21.
But on Saturday, Centre fought hard against host Herington in a low scoring defensive battle, pulling away with a 26-25 victory.
Centre will be on the road this Friday against Canton-Galva for their last game prior to New Years.
Peabody-Burns
Peabody-Burns did not have any games over the weekend but will be playing their last game prior to New Year break this Friday at home against Herington.