Basketball ~ Lady Eagles fall to Patriots

Wednesday, 04 January 2012 9:44

(Jacey Keener shoots for three and connects in the Lady Eagles game against Heritage. Keener had five points and five rebounds on the night.) photo by hiatt

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by Don Hiatt

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Chandler Blake got the Eagles on the board with a lay-up right off the opening tip. But Heritage answered right back with two of their own. The next three minutes were scoreless until the Patriots made a three-pointer. Churubusco would get two back as Lacey Pulley hit a basket off a pass by Blake. Heritage then went on a 12-0 run to give them a 17-4 lead. Kristine Bechtold hit a three-pointer to trim the lead to ten points. The Patriots would score four more before the end of the first quarter to have a 21-7 lead.

In the second period Blake hit a free throw and then a basket to pull the Eagles within 11 points. Heritage would go on a 13-3 run to make it 34-13 Patriots. Savannah Labenz scored the three points for Busco on a free throw and a jumper. The final first half points came off an offensive rebound by Jacey Keener who put the shot up and in for the Eagles. Churubusco had 14 turnovers in the first half to just three for Heritage and the Patriots were able to connect on five three-pointers to give Heritage a 39-15 lead at the break.

“I challenged the girls at halftime with some things that we had to do better,” explained Coach Jamie Perlich. “One was rebounding and the other was to slow it down offensively. Not going 110 mph, turning the ball over and being in a hurry.”

Two more turnovers by the Lady Eagles led to the biggest lead of the game for the Patriots at 41-15. Montana Martin hit a pair of free throws for two of her six points on the night. The Lady Eagles continued to work the ball better in the second half as they had six players score in the closing quarters. They made a six to zero run in the fourth quarter with good rebounding and Martin connected on two baskets with Pulley adding the other. Blake went four for four from the free throw line in the final quarter and Keener added a three-pointer. The Lady Eagles outscored the Patriots 21-17 in the second half and cut the turnovers to just six in the second half.

“I felt we did a much better job with those things,” said Coach Perlich. “We rebounded better and we only gave up 17 points in the second half. Offensively we settled down a little bit. We were able to hit some shots and we were more aggressive attacking the basket. Hopefully we can take that second half and build off of it for next weeks games.”

The Lady Eagles will travel to Fremont on Friday to play in a Varsity only night as they will open at 6:00 p.m. with the boys game following. Saturday Churubusco will host Hamilton with the tip-off slated for 7:00 p.m. It will be varsity only since Hamilton has no JV team.

by Don Hiatt

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The Lady Eagles traveled to Heritage last Friday night and the Patriots came out on top with a 56-36 win over the Eagles. That now gives them a 4-8 record on the season. Turnovers by the Lady Eagles and some hot three-point shooting by the Patriots proved to be the difference in this game. Chandler Blake got the Eagles on the board with a lay-up right off the opening tip. But Heritage answered right back with two of their own. The next three minutes were scoreless until the Patriots made a three-pointer. Churubusco would get two back as Lacey Pulley hit a basket off a pass by Blake. Heritage then went on a 12-0 run to give them a 17-4 lead. Kristine Bechtold hit a three-pointer to trim the lead to ten points. The Patriots would score four more before the end of the first quarter to have a 21-7 lead.