STRYKER – The reason they call periods ‘quarters’ in a basketball game is simply because there are four of them, and all four need to be played in order to have a chance to win.
The Hilltop Lady Cadets apparently missed that memo.
Battling back from an early deficit, the Ladies in Red slowly closed the gap against the Stryker Lady Panthers on January 24. The hometown girls had never lost to the Lady Cadets in The Cage, but after three periods, Hilltop had cut the Stryker lead to a single point. This was destined to be a shootout to the very end.
Then again…maybe not.
When both teams came back onto the floor for the start of the fourth period, the Lady Cadets left all semblance of an offense behind on the bench, and the Lady Panthers were more than happy to take full advantage of the situation. The resulting Hilltop meltdown was spelled out in a 15-1 run by Stryker, giving them a 51-36 win.
Connor Sullivan went 12 for 12 from the line to score a game-high 22 for the Lady Panthers, while Conner Varner added a dozen. Emily Rupp put in 6 points, Maddie Uribes had 5 points, and Hannah Doehrmann, Michaela Rupp and Christie Huston had 2 points apiece.
Hannah Bleikamp had 8 points and 6 rebounds for the Lady Cadets, while Emily Armbruster had 7 points, and Cierra Carpenter had 7 points and 8 assists. Jackie Smith put in 6 points with 5 assists and 5 steals, and Kayla Settlemire and Sam Lillemon each had 4 points.
SCORING BY QUARTER:
Stryker 18 12 6 15 – 51
Hilltop 13 14 8 1 – 36