(December 12th, 2014) – PIONEER: An offensive explosion in the fourth period wasn’t quite enough for Hilltop to take down North Central.
The Lady Cadets played admirably on the road, but fell 2 points short of earning a great road victory against a hated rival. Instead, the Lady Eagles held on to beat Hilltop 39-38.
The game was a defensive struggle. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 6-5 in Hilltop’s favor. The Eagles came back strong with a 9-5 second period, carrying a three point lead into halftime, 14-11. The girls from Pioneer took over the game in the third period. They went on a run, finishing the quarter with a 15-7 performance and an 11 point lead.
Hilltop responded with urgency, more than doubling their total point production from the first three quarters in the fourth. Outscoring North Central 20-10, the Cadets came up a single point short of tying, and 2 points short of beating, the Lady Eagles.
Makayla Hayes, a sophomore for North Central, served as the top scorer on her team with 11 points, a total built on 2 made three-pointers. The senior duo of Rachel Oxender and Sabrina Pickford each picked up 8 points, while junior Cady VanDeVoorde earned 7 points.
Hilltop senior Destiny Denton led the rally effort with a game leading 16 points. Nearly half of those came from the free throw line, as the crafty veteran again found ways to get fouled. She mad 7 of her 8 attempts from the line. Denton also hit a three and pulled down 6 rebounds. Junior teammate Allie Schmitt was the next highest scorer with 7 points, though she went just 1 for 8 from the charity stripe.
Free throws gave Hilltop a lot of problems in this game, which is unusual given that they’ve won most their victories due to excellent free throw shooting. As a team, the Lady Cadets went 10 for 21, good for 46% from the line. North Central was slightly better with their extra pont attempts, making 13 of their 23 attempts for a 57% success rate.
Hilltop out-rebounded North Central 32-26. Karrisa Crisenbery played a vital role in this aspect of the game, collecting 13 boards on her own.
Even with some depth concerns for North Central, these two teams were evenly matched talent-wise, and the rivalry aspect made this game truly special. Perhaps people should be marking their calendars for January 29, when the two teams meet in West Unity.