We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Hays/Lodge Pole eighth grader Hadley Not Afraid drives past the Hawk defender in action Saturday afternoon at the Thunderdome. Not Afraid scored seven points in the contest.
The Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds had an up and down week on the court to start the new year. Tuesday the Thunderbirds made up their postponed game with the Fort Benton Longhorns, The game originally scheduled prior to the Holiday break kicked of the new year for the Thunderbirds. The Longhorns started slow but finished in a flurry handing the Thunderbirds a tough 57-20 setback to start the new year.
Friday Hays/Lodge Pole travelled north to take on the Turner Tornadoes. The Thunderbirds battled back from an early deficit to post a 45-43 win over the Tornadoes. Saturday the girls were back home in the Thunderdome where they faced the Chester/Joplin-Hawks. In another tough contest the Hawks managed to defeat the Thunderbirds 56-40.
Sophomore Nina Fox evened the game at 2-2 with a baseline jumper. Junior Hannah Richman responded for the Tornadoes with a three point bucket off the inbound pass. Junior Alliya PrettyPaint answered right back for the Thunderbirds with a deep three of her own to even the score at 5-5 and establish the tone for the night.
The Tornadoes were the first to seize some momentum closing out the first quarter with six straight points to take a 11-5 lead. Sophomore Meridian Snider pushed the advantage to 16-7 with a pair of free throws. Fox then got the Thunderbirds back on track with left hand finish and eighth grader Hadley Not Afraid followed with a long three point bomb off a nice pass from Pretty Paint to trim the score to 16-12. Fox added a three point bucket to keep the Turner lead at four 23-19. Turner again finished the quarter strong, scoring the final four points to lead 27-19 at the break.
Turner started the third quarter in complete control leading 32-21 with 4:30 to go in the quarter. PrettyPaint made a great steal, went the length of the court, scored the bucket and drew the foul. PrettyPaint converted at the line and ignited the Thunderbird comeback. On the ensuing possession Pretty Paint found Not afraid underneath to cut the Turner lead to 32-26.
Following a Turner timeout PrettyPaint knocked a Tornado pass away up top turning the loose ball into an easy layup on the other end. Reed then got the Tornadoes back on the board with a free throw to push their lead back to five 33-28. Pretty Paint again forced a Tornado turnover resulting in another layup and after a buck underneath by eighth grader Shayden Blount the Thunderbirds had their first lead 34-33.
PrettyPaint made a strong move early in the fourth quarter to give the Thunderbirds a 38-34 lead. Reed responded with a bucket down low for the Tornadoes but PrettyPaint scored right back. Not Afraid gave the Thunderbirds a 44-40 lead late in the contest with a pair of free throws. Eighth grader Ali Doyle hit from distance to cut the lead to 44-43. When the final horn sounded it was with Hays/Lodge Pole holding a 45-43 advantage to secure the win.
The Thunderbirds got a huge effort from PrettyPaint with 19 points, Fox added 13 and Not Afraid seven. Turner was led in the scoring column by Reed with 18 and Krass with nine.
Saturday against the Hawks the Thunderbirds were looking to build on the momentum from their big win the night before. Hays/Lodge Pole held their own early on with five players finding the scoring column in the first quarter.
Chester/J-I led 13-12 to start the second and opened things up before the half. The visitors outscored the Thunderbirds 24-11 to take a 37-23 lead into halftime. Chester/J-I added to their lead in the third, extending the margin to 55-30 with eight minutes remaining. The Hawks kept the tempo in their favor, taking a 56-40 win over the Thunderbirds.
Blackcrow led the Thunderbirds with 13 points while PrettyPaint added nine. Hays/Lodge Pole is now 1-4 in District 9C action and 4-4 overall.
