Pierce High Girls Basketball
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Bluejays Take Revenge on the Blue Devils
By Haley Scholting
The Pierce Bluejays hit the court with the Wayne Blue Devils for their second time this season on Friday, January 9, and although the Jays lost by two points in the Wayne holiday tournament, Pierce took control of the game and came out with the win in this rematch.
Beginning in the first quarter, both teams started off a little shaky with a number of turnovers; however, the defensive efforts of the Bluejays and Blue Devils kept the score low with an ending first quarter score of 5-2 with Wayne in the lead.
Entering the second quarter, the game was very back and forth. Pierce outscored Wayne in this quarter 9-6, making the game tied at the end of the half. At this point in the game, PHS was leading in the rebounds category, 16-12. On the contrary, Pierce had more turnovers in the first half, 12-9.
Out of halftime, the Jays came out hot, scoring the first 14 points in the third quarter before Wayne could put up their first points of the second half. The momentum kept up throughout the whole quarter, pulling the Jays further ahead. At the end of the third quarter, the score was 31-18 in favor of the Bluejays.
Finally, in the fourth quarter, the Bluejays continued fighting hard to keep their lead against the Blue Devils. The team kept their intense defense and execution on offense to pull away with the win. The game ended with a score of 38-27, making Pierce victorious.
The leading scorer of the game was Haley Scholting with 10 points, and close behind her was Abigail Cone with nine points. Nora Herian chipped in another eight points while Lydia Cone had six. Aislyn Moeller added three points and Emily Endorf with two points also contributed to the girls’ win.
After talking to head coach Darin Suckstorf, Pierce’s defense is what really won them the game.
“The defensive side is where we excelled on Friday night. The girls did a much better job at playing zone, which is a defense we always have in our back pocket,” Suckstorf states.
This win put the Pierce girls at a record of 9-3. Catch the Jays in action next on Thursday, January 15, at Humphrey.
Girls Basketball Tops Aquinas
By Ava Bargstadt
The Pierce Bluejays took on the Aquinas Monarchs of David City on Thursday, January 8, with a score of 58-53. The win made it back-to-back winnings for the Bluejays.
Starting with points, Abigail Cone led the team with 14 points in the game. Close behind was Lydia Cone with 13 points, Haley Scholting had nine and Nora Herian finished with eight to lead the Bluejays.
Scholting had three steals for the Bluejays and A.Cone, Aislyn Moeller, Grace Suckstorf, and L. Cone all with one steal each.
“I thought the girls did a good job of knowing their scout, what the type of players were and who needed to help and who couldn’t. So that takes a lot of communication and trusting your teammates, and I thought they did that the whole game,” head coach Darin Suckstorf states.
The girls and the coach were prominent in their defensive plays. L. Cone had six defensive rebounds, following after Herian had five, Emily Endorf and A. Cone both had one defensive rebound apiece. Pierce had seven offensive rebounds in total.
“Were still turning the ball over a little too many times. I think we had 16 last night, so we can drop that a little bit. We shot it better so that's improvement, but we need to keep working on that, and just keep working on the little things to make us better,” Suckstorf says.
Even though the Jays won, they still have a couple of things to work on. Suckstorf says he has seen a lot of improvement which Pierce will continue to see throughout the season.
