The Hilltop Lady Cadets put together a great team effort, and were able to capitalize on Tinora’s inability to score, as the Hilltop would go on to win the contest by a margin of 48-39.
The Cadets took little time to take control of the game. Not only was Hilltop able to score 17 in the first quarter, but their defense set the tone for the contest, only allowing their opponents to score five point in the first period of action. The Rams would take 47 shots in the contest, and were only able to get nine of those shots to fall. That equates to a 19% shooting percentage.
The Cadet offense would take a step back in the second quarter, only able to muster seven points. However it would be “no-harm no-foul” as the Hilltop defense would stifle the Tinora offense again, allowing seven points as well, which all allowed them to maintain a 12 point lead at halftime, leading 24-12.
Tinora shrunk the Hilltop lead by a point in the third quarter of action, outscoring the Cadets 8-7, narrowing the lead to 11. After three complete quarters of action, the scoreboard read 31-15 in favor of Hilltop.
Both squads offenses would come alive in the final quarter, scoring a combined 36 points. The lead that the Cadets had built early in the contest would prove to be vital. The Rams would outscore them 19-17 in the final quarter, but it would be too little to late for the Rams, and the Cadets would close out the night with the 48-39 victory.
The Cadet’s were 13/31 on two point attempts and 3/4 on three point attempts for a total shooting percentage of 46%. Hilltop also maintained a 59% free throw percentage, making 13 of their 22 attempts on the evening. The Cadets also out rebounded the Rams 33-26.
Leading the way in point totals on the night for the Cadets was Hannah Bleikamp who banked 13 points on the night. She was followed by Emily Armbruster with nine, Destiny Denton and LeAnn Joost both finished with eight, Bailey Funkhouser and Kailey Creamer each contributed three a piece, and Cierra Grant and Kayla Settlemire rounded out the Cadet scoring with two each.
With the win, the Cadets on now 6-1 on the 2013-2014 campaign,
-Mitchell Peebles
