Lady Jays Basketball
Varsity Lady Jays Take Out Wayne
by Faith Lubischer
The varsity Lady Jays traveled to Norfolk to take on the Wayne Blue Devils for the first round of subdistricts on Tuesday, February 12. The Lady Jays took out the Blue Devils with a final score of 45-34.
The first half was slow on offense for both teams. To begin this low-scoring half, both teams kept the game close, ending the first quarter 7-8. During the second quarter, the Lady Jays had a rough time, only putting up four points to the Blue Devils’ seven to end the second quarter behind 11-15.
Things turned around after the halftime break. Coming out of the half with some fire, the Lady Jays outscored the Blue Devils in the third quarter 22-5, which led them into the fourth with a score of 33-20. Throughout the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils outscored the Jays 12-14, but it wasn’t enough to take down the Lady Jays.
Three Lady Jays put up points during this game, including Kayla Simmons with 18, Maggie Brahmer with 16, and Kenzie Moeller with 11. Leading the Lady Jays in rebounds this game was Brahmer with 13, and following her were Zoe Brenden with seven, Abbey Fuerhoff with two, Marie Stone with two, Abigail Meier with two, and Simmons with one. Brenden led the team in blocks with two. The Jays had 12 steals this game, and Brahmer had four, Moeller had four, Brenden had three, and Fuerhoff had one. Lastly, pulling together the Jays’ 15 assists this game were Brahmer with four, Brenden with four, Fuerhoff with three, Simmons with two, and Moeller with two.
Moving on to the next subdistrict game, which would pit the Lady Jays against O’Neill, coach Darren Sindelar said, “I feel confident. This will be the third time playing O’Neill. They are a very good team. We have shown we can play with them. We are going to have to play our best game of the season.”
The Lady Jays played their next game today, Thursday, February 14, against the O’Neill Eagles in Norfolk for the subdistrict final.
Lady Jays Fly Above GACC Bluejays
by Kailey Marks
The Pierce Lady Jays traveled to West Point to compete against the Bluejays of Guardian Angel Cedar Catholic on Thursday, February 7, for their last regular season game. The Lady Jays stole the victory 56-38.
To start off the game, Abbey Fuerhoff and Kayla Simmons both banked in threes. Kenzie Moeller went up and scored a layup, and Maggie Brahmer shot in a pair of two pointers for the Lady Jays. Finishing off the first quarter, Pierce was fighting for victory as they ended the quarter tied with GACC 12-12.
In the second quarter, Fuerhoff was on fire with the threes as she scored two, along with Simmons swishing another. Brahmer aided the team again with a two. Abigail Meier nicked in a two, along with one of her two free throws. The Lady Jays held their opponent to only five points in the quarter to take command of the game. Heading into the locker room, Pierce was up 26-17.
Stepping into the third quarter, Simmons caught her groove and scored two more threes for Pierce. Moeller knocked in another two, along with Brahmer moving her way down the court to score two more two-point shots. Zoe Brenden fixed up her frame and scored one free throw. On the defensive side, the Lady Jays held GACC to just seven points. Heading into fourth quarter, Pierce still held the lead 39-24.
In the final quarter of the game, Faith Lubischer swished in one of her two free throws. Fuerhoff was back with the three’s as she drained two more, and she also banked in one of her free throws. Brenden scored another two for the Lady Jays, along with one free throw. Brahmer put five points up on the scoreboard with a two pointer and three free throws. Meier made one shot behind the free throw line. The GACC Bluejays managed to put up 14 points for their team, but it just wasn’t enough to overcome the Lady Jays. To finish off the game, Pierce claimed the win, 56-38.
Head Coach Darren Sindelar said, “I feel the girls did a great job finishing out the regular season. It is always hard to play GACC at home. The girls played very well as a team. Defensively, we communicated well and contested shots and rebounded. Offensively, we moved the ball and found the open person. When shots fall, it makes the game a lot easier.”
The girls had their next games starting on Monday, February 11, with subdistricts.
Varsity Lady Jays Knock Out Wynot Blue Devils
by Elizabeth Hammer
The Lady Jays conquered the Wynot Blue Devils at Pierce on Tuesday, February 5. The game ended with a score of 53-26.
Starting the first half of the game, Kayla Simmons drained a three pointer. Marie Stone and Zoe Brenden put three points total up on the scoreboard. Maggie Brahmer, the top scorer of the first quarter, made eight points. The Blue Devils made just eight points on the Lady Jay defense, ending the game with a score of 14-8.
In the second quarter, Abbey Fuerhoff and Kenzie Moeller both drained a three. Simmons kept the three-pointer streak by scoring two three pointers. Brenden made one shot behind the free throw line. The Blue Devils managed to add only five more points to their score before halftime. The second quarter ended with a score of 27-13.
Starting the second half, Fuerhoff and Simmons each made three shots from behind the arc, and Brenden scored five points from the free throw line. The Blue Devils continued to trail far behind the Lady Jays, managing just eight more points in the quarter, ending the third with a score of 42-21.
In the last quarter of the game, the Lady Jays didn’t let up. Simmons drained a three, and Moeller made a two-pointer. Brahmer added six points to the Lady Jays’ score. The Blue Devils got only five points past the Lady Jays, who ended up on top with a crushing score of 53-26.
Head Coach Darren Sindelar said, “This was the best overall game we played all year. We were consistent on the offensive end and also the defensive end.”
The Lady Jays’ next games were played in districts, which started on Monday, February 11.
JV Lady Jays Fall to GACC
by Rose Graham
The JV Lady Jays lost to Guardian Angels Central Catholic 34-65 at West Point on Thursday, February 7.
In the first quarter, the Lady Jays struggled to keep up with the GACC offense. Payten Simmons had two baskets, and Mikala Stone had one two pointer. GACC went on a roll, and the Lady Jays trailed GACC 6-20 heading into the second quarter.
Scoring for the Bluejays in the second quarter were Brynnlee Marks and Gina Wragge with a two pointer each. Simmons scored with one free throw and a two pointer to add to the Lady Jays’ score. With the opposing team putting up 14 more points on the Lady Jays, Pierce still trailed GACC 13-34 going into the half.
Coming out of the half, the Lady Jays added to their score with two free throws from Faith Lubischer. Also scoring for the Lady Jays was Simmons with a two pointer. Abigail Meier assisted the Lady Jays with one free throw and one two pointer. Kennedy Warneke scored two two pointers and one free throw to put the Lady Jays at 25, but with the GACC Bluejays putting up 19 more, they led 25-53 heading into the last quarter.
In the final quarter, the Lady Jays still struggled offensively to match the GACC Bluejays. Mikala Stone scored three two pointers, and Wragge scored a three pointer to assist the Lady Jays, but GACC didn’t let up and scored 12 more to take the win 34-65.
“It was not our best performance overall through our whole season, and it was sad to end on that,” said coach Amber Henderson. “We didn’t execute our offense as well against their pressure, but when we did get the looks we wanted, we scored.”
This was the JV Lady Jays’ final game of the season. They finished with a record of 10-5.
JV Lady Jays Take Down Wynot Lady Blue Devils
by Kiley Bierman
The JV Lady Jays took down the Wynot Blue Devils for a win at Pierce’s home court on Tuesday, February 5. The final score was 44-26.
In the first quarter, the Lady Jays started off strong when Faith Lubisher made one free throw, and Abigail Meier made three two pointers and one free throw. The Lady Jays ended the first quarter ahead 10-6.
In the second quarter, Kennedy Warneke led the Lady Jays on offense with one two-pointer and two three-pointers. Alexus Sindelar also made two free throws. The Lady Jays scored ten points to the Lady Blue Devils’ three to finish off the half with a score of 20-9.
To start off the half, Meier scored a pair of two pointers, and Sindelar made one basket, as well. The Lady Jays kept their lead on the Lady Blue Devils with great defense. Each team scored six points for a third-quarter score of 26-15.
In the fourth quarter, The Lady Jays went on a scoring spree and made 14 points to Lady Blue Devils’ 11. Brynnlee Marks made three buckets; Samantha Fischer, Mikala Stone, and Graison Pfeiffer made one; and Gina Wragge made one three. The Lady Jays took home the win with a final score of 44-26.
Coach Amber Henderson said, “They played really well together, and we played more aggressively as a team.”
The junior varsity Lady Jays’ next game is Friday, February 15, at Pierce’s home court against the Wayne Lady Blue Devils.
Freshman Lady Jays Place Second
by Sarah Miller
The freshman Lady Jays went to Hartington for a tournament where they went 1-1 on Saturday, February 9. They won 40-21 against South Sioux City and lost 20-23 to Wayne.
In the first quarter of the South Sioux City game, the Lady Jays started out strong, scoring 16 points. Doing the scoring for the Lady Jays were Gina Wragge with two baskets, Kennedy Warneke with one two pointer, Brynnlee Marks with a two pointer, Makinzie Parsons with a free throw, Graison Pfeiffer with one free throw and one two pointer, and Payten Simmons with a pair of two pointers. With the Lady Jay defense holding SSC, the score of the first quarter was 16-9.
In the second quarter, the scoring slowed for both teams as the Lady Jays outscored SSC 8-4. The scorers for the second quarter were Warneke with three two pointers and a free throw, and Samantha Fischer with a free throw. The score heading into halftime was 24-13.
After halftime, the Lady Jays scored nine points in the third quarter courtesy of Alexus Sindelar with one two pointer, Parsons with a two pointer, Fischer with a free throw, Pfeiffer with a two pointers, and Simmons with a two pointer. The Lady Jay defense kept SSC to scoring only five points, and the score at the end of the third quarter was 33-18.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Jays continued to dominate and outscored the Cardinals 7-3. The scorers for the fourth quarter were Warneke with a three pointer, Parsons with a two pointer, and Larissa Meier with a two pointer. The final score of the game was 40-21.
The Lady Jays then moved on to face Wayne. In the first quarter of the Wayne game, the Lady Jays started out slow, scoring no points to the Blue Devils’ four.
In the second quarter, the Lady Jays came back to take the lead, scoring nine points to the Blue Devils’ three in the second. The scorers were Warneke with a two pointer and a free throw, Parsons with a two pointer, Pfeiffer with a two pointer, and Simmons with a two pointer. The score heading into halftime was 9-7.
In the third quarter, the Lady Jays scored just four points as the Blue Devils took back the lead with seven. The Lady Jay scorers were Warneke with a free throw and Simmons with a free throw and a two pointer. The score heading into the final quarter was 13-14.
In the final quarter, the Lady Jays had one scorer who hit seven points. Warneke had two three pointers and a free throw. The Blue Devils edged out the Lady Jays by putting up nine of their own points to take the win 20-23.
The Lady Jays’ freshman team is finished with their games for the season. Their record was 7-9.
Freshmen Lady Jays Soar Over Panthers
by Faith Lubischer
The freshmen Lady Jays’ basketball team traveled on Monday, February 4, to take on and conquer the Norfolk High Panthers 45-10.
The Lady Jays started off the game strong, putting up 13 points in the first quarter to the Panthers’ three. Scoring these points were Kennedy Warneke with a three pointer, Gina Wragge with one two-point shot and one free throw, Brynnlee Marks with one two-point shot and two free throws, and lastly Graison Pfeiffer with one two-point shot and one free throw.
Throughout the second quarter, the Panthers managed only one basket on the Lady Jays’ defense, and offensively, the Lady Jays scored all but two points from the free throw line. Hitting free throws were Wragge with three, Makinzie Parsons with two, Marks with one, Larissa Meier with one, and Pfeiffer with one. Warneke also scored one two-point shot, ending the quarter with a score of 23-5.
Coming out of the half, the Lady Jays didn’t let up, outscoring the Panthers 34-9 by the end of the third quarter. Leading the Lady Jays in points this quarter was Warneke with two two-point shots. Also contributing to the 11 points put up in the third quarter were Samantha Fischer with one two-point shot, Pfeiffer with one two-point shot, Marks with two free throws, and Wragge with one free throw.
To end the game, Wragge and Warneke each hit one three pointer. Both Marks and Fischer scored a two-point shot, and Pfeiffer also made one free throw. With the Panthers managing just one basket from the free throw line before the buzzer, the game ended with a score of 45-10.
Giving a rundown of the game, Coach Alexis Dixon said, “The game overall went very well. The girls did a great job of playing together as a team throughout the entire game.”
The freshman Lady Jays will next play in a tournament held on Saturday, February 9, in Hartington Cedar Catholic’s gym beginning at 9 a.m. for their final game of the season
