SWC Girls Eagles Eke Out A Win Over The Falcons
By Skip Hunter –
Last Friday night the SWC Eagle girls’ basketball game played one of those games in which coaches and fans approach with a little fear and trepidation. The Red Rock Central Falcons came into the game sporting a 9-5 record good for second in the conference. RRC has several players who can affect a game. There is Karli Arkell and Dondra Rindfleisch down low and Emily DeCock and Lilly Stavnes out front. Arkell registered several blocks and scored in the paint while DeCock and Stavenes combined for 7 3-point shots. The Falcons led by as many as 11 points in the first half and by 10 with less than 8 minutes remaining in the game. The Eagles were turning the ball over with regularity (32 for the game) and sometimes the Falcons had wide-open shots. But some tenacious defense (RRC turned the ball over 25 times itself,) and some opportunistic shooting (4 three’s by Riley Fey) allowed the Eagles to come out on top, 61-60.
The Eagles scored first when Morgan Pap took the tip and passed to Ana Veldkamp near the bucket. Veldkamp then splashed home a trey using a pass from Makenna Moss. Three consecutive RRC buckets later gave them a 6-5 advantage. The Eagles retook the lead with a Fey bucket set up by Pap after she had swiped the ball. Pap had 11 assists on the night. The Eagles then went on a scoring drought which lasted for over 3 minutes and the Falcons went ahead 17-7.
Shaylee Van Essen, part of SWC’s second line, hit a pair of free throws, but a Falcon trey made the score 20-9. Veldkamp hit from deep using a Pap pass. After an RRC bucket Veldkamp scored on a drive and after a steal to make the score 22-16. The Eagles cut the lead to 2 with buckets by Moss and Kierra Binford, both assisted by Veldkamp. Moss scored next for the Eagles using a Pap feed on an inbounds play. The teams traded treys with Veldkmap scoring for SWC using a Van Essen feed. RRC scored twice sandwiched around a Veldkamp hoop set up by Pap. The Eagles cut the lead to 2 once more on a putback basket by Lindsie Fick. However, an RRC trey near the end of the first half made the score 34-29 at the break.
The Eagles fell behind 41-32 after the break with the only Eagle bucket coming on a Fey trey after a Veldkamp feed. Pap scored her only bucket of the game, a trey, also set up by Veldkamp to make the score 41-35. The Eagles cut the lead to 3 with a Veldkamp score after swiping the ball and a Fey bucket using a pass from Pap after she picked a Falcon’s pocket. The Eagles suffered a 3-minute scoring drought while RRC made the score 49-39 with 12:25 left in the game.