Girls mark first conference win, first loss of season
It’s the halfway point of winter basketball, and that means conference games start to count toward league rankings at the end of the season. The Holyoke Lady Dragons started off on the right foot with a big conference win at Haxtun Friday, Jan. 17.
That brought their record to 9-0 heading into Saturday’s nonconference game against Limon. The game was played at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, and with an intense crowd cheering them on, Holyoke narrowly missed victory, giving the Lady Dragons their first loss of the season.
The girls battled one of the best teams of the state, said coach John Baumgartner. Limon was ranked No. 1 in the preseason for a reason, he added.
The college stadium gave Saturday’s game a post-season feel, and Baumgartner sincerely hopes to see Limon on an even bigger stage later this year.
Holyoke 44, Haxtun 21
While the defense was shutting down Haxtun from the get-go Friday, the offense was a bit slow to start. The first quarter ended 5-3 in Holyoke’s favor.
The Lady Dragons kicked it up a notch in the second quarter for 12 points to widen the gap to 17-5 at halftime.
The third quarter was even stronger for Holyoke offensively, with 17 points added to the scoreboard for a 34-11 lead.
Both teams finished the game with 10 points in the fourth, bringing the final score to 44-21 and giving Holyoke the conference win.
Baumgartner was pleased that Holyoke’s scoring was balanced, with four girls scoring between eight and 12 points. However, he’d like to see the team have four solid quarters offensively. The girls were being aggressive and taking a lot of shots; they just weren’t making a lot of them, he said.
Baumgartner would also like the team to work on its free throws. Holyoke made 13 out of 21 from the line for 62% accuracy.
Lauren Herman led the scoring effort with 12 points including five 2-pointers and two for five in free throws.
Herman, Emily Jelden and Kristin Vieselmeyer had eight rebounds apiece. Shianne Willmon blocked one shot, and Jelden led assists with eight and steals with three.
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