CONTESTED - Senior Sophie Stork and Junior Andy Briggs contest a shot during a holiday tournament which saw the Panthers split games with St. James and LCWM.
Star Eagle photos by Chris Schlaak
By ELI LUTGENS
Publisher/Editor
The Lady Panthers no longer remain undefeated after splitting games over the holidays.
NRHEG 76, JWP 22
The Lady Panthers remained undefeated after a road game with JWP.
The game wasn’t close. At halftime the girls led by 30 points.
“We had a great night of Panther basketball,” NRHEG coach Onika Peterson said. “We were able to get a lot of kids a lot of minutes tonight. We played tough defense. Our kids attacked the basket well.”
Leading the Panthers in scoring was Faith Nielsen with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 assist. Also scoring for the Panthers: Erin Jacobson 16 pts, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 assist, 3 blocks; Sidney Schultz 13 pts, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 4 assists; Sophie Stork 10 pts, 9 rebounds, 6 steals, 5 assists; Paige Nielsen 8 pts, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 2 assists; Sarah George 4 pts, 1 rebound, 1 block; Andy Briggs 4 pts, 2 steals, 1 assist; Hallie Schultz 2 pts, 2 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 block; Madison Murray 2 pts, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks; Trinity Smith Vulcan 1 rebound, 2 steals.
St. Clair 69, NRHEG 63
A day after Christmas the Panthers dropped their first game of the season in a non-conference game on the road to St. Clair.
After falling behind early, the Panthers battled back from a 46-33 halftime score to make the game a little more competitive in the second half. Foul trouble and a good Knights defense are what led to the Panthers first loss of the season.
“St. Clair’s tough and scrappy defense caused us some problems, especially in the first half,” coach Peterson said. “We got into foul trouble early and put ourselves into a 13 point hole. We fortunately climbed our way out of it, tied it up, but could never get over the hump.
“We will be learning from this loss, adjusting and making some changes and hopefully will bounce back,” coach Peterson said.
Individually for the Panthers: F. Nielsen 16 pts, 9 rebounds, 1 charge; E. Jacobson 21 pts, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block; A. Briggs 1 pt, 9 rebounds; H. Schultz 2 pts, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block; M. Murray 1 rebound; S. Stork 12 pts, 18 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals; S. George 1 pt, 7 rebounds, 1 steal; P. Nielsen 10 pts, 2 rebounds, 1 assist.
Holiday Tournament
In a pair of games during an annual holiday tournament, the Panthers split two games.
They defeated St. James 74-60 and lost to LCWM 64-48.
“We played against a couple of great teams in the LCWM tournament,” coach Peterson said. “Between both nights we saw some parts of our game that we need to continue to improve on throughout the season.”
Against LCWM, Peterson said this about the Panther's second loss of the season. “LCWM had a couple of heavy hitters that we could not contain. They attacked the basket very well and when we would try to help on defense, they would kick it out and hit a 3. Tonight was a tough loss. We need to learn from it, and make adjustments where needed.”
With the loss the Panthers fall to 8-2 overall, but remain undefeated in conference play at 4-0.
Stork and Jacobson were among players named to the all tournament team. Jacobson scored 35 points in two games and Stork scored 37 points.
Individually for the Panthers against St. James: F. Nielsen 16 pts, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal; E. Jacobson 20 pts, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 charge; A. Briggs 6 pts, 3 rebounds, 1 steal; H. Schultz 8 pts, 4 rebounds, 1 assist; M. Murray 3 rebounds, 1 steal; S. Stork 18 pts, 21 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals; S. George 3 pts, 4 rebounds, 2 steals; P. Nielsen 3 pts, 5 rebounds, 1 steal.
Individually for the Panthers against LCWM: T. Smith Vulcan 1 rebound; F. Nielsen 7 pts, 3 rebounds; E. Jacobson 15 pts, 4 rebounds, 1 charge; A. Briggs 2 pts, 3 rebounds, 1 steal; H. Schultz 2 pts, 8 rebounds; M. Murray 1 rebound, 1 block; S. Stork 19 pts, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks; S. George 6 rebounds; P. Nielsen 3 pts, 1 rebound; K. Lenort 1 rebound.
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