Pierce High Girl Basketball
Pierce Lady Jays Dominate The Bravettes
By Parker Gaes
The Lady Jays flew over the Battle Creek High School on Saturday, January 24, to compete against the Bravettes, and came out with a victory that night, the score was 31-18 win over Battle Creek.
The Bluejay record is now 14-4.
“I thought our girls overcame some tough situations this week with injuries and sickness and gutted out a good win versus Battle Creek. Their effort was great all game, and it made a big difference in rebounding and getting the 50/50 ball that helped us get the win,” Darin Suckstorf, head coach, said.
In the first quarter, the Jays started strong and ready to go, outscoring the Bravettes 8-4, ending the quarter.
Going into the second quarter, Pierce scored three points, and the Bravettes also scored three points, ending the first half 11-7.
Onto the third quarter, Pierce was still going strong and pushing the lead to 22-7. The Bravettes could not keep up with Pierce.
Dribbling into the fourth quarter, the Lady Jays scored nine more points, ending the game easily. The end of the game results were 31-18.
“We knew it was going to be a game of grit. Our defense was the main reason we won the game, and that’s a credit to everybody. We had a good scout on Battle Creek, and executing that was really important,” senior post Abigail Cone said.
The next game for Pierce is on January 29, against the Crofton Warriors at home. Come and support the Bluejays this week.
Pierce Fights Hard Against Summerland
By Haley Scholting
With only eight eligible players by the end of the game due to sickness and injuries, the Pierce Bluejays were still able to pull out a thrilling win Thursday, January 22, against the Summerland Bobcats.
Starting off, the team jumped out to an early lead against Summerland with a number of deflections and steals. This resulted in an ending first quarter score of 13-4.
In the second quarter, PHS locked down its defense to hold the Bobcats to zero points. The Bluejays also dominated on the offensive side this quarter, putting up another 13 points. This left the score 26-4 at the end of the half.
Coming out of halftime, the Pierce girls were motivated to keep the momentum up. The girls played with various types of defenses, including their man defense and two different zone defenses. With the well executed offense and defense, the Bluejays kept the lead and ended the quarter with a score of 38-14.
Again in the fourth quarter, the Bluejays held the Bobcats to zero points. PHS kept their aggressiveness up throughout the entire game to further extend their lead against Summerland. The ending score of the game was 53-14.
Senior Abigail Cone, one of two seniors on the team, gives her take on how the team did both offensively and defensively.
“We were solid defensively the whole game. Having two shutout quarters was a testament to our efforts, and we executed our different defenses well. Offensively, we took a wide variety of shots and rebounded well, creating second-shot opportunities,” A. Cone said.
Some team stats include Grace Suckstorf going 60% from the 3-point line and ending with 10 points. Haley Scholting also contributed 10 points, while both Aislyn Moeller and Lydia Cone put in 11 points each. A. Cone added eight points, and Natalie Endorf put in three points.
On top of points, Scholting had five steals, and Moeller and A. Cone both had four steals. Emily Endorf also led the team in deflections with three.
Come catch the girls at their next game against Crofton at home on January 29!
Bluejays Dominate the Norfolk Catholic Knights
By Ava Bargstadt
The Bluejay girls basketball team took on Norfolk Catholic Knights on Thursday, January 20, and defeated them with a score of 50-34.
Starting with points, Abigail Cone and Haley Scholting both led the team with 13 points each, followed by Lydia Cone with nine points. Emily Endorf, Aislyn Moeller, and Grace Suckstorf all contributed five points to the team.
In the first quarter, the Bluejays started on fire, winning back-to-back points. Entering the second quarter with a score of 14-6, the Bluejays were in the lead.
Entering the second quarter, Pierce continued to push forward, having a total of 13 defensive rebounds for the whole game. Just barely defeating Norfolk Catholic 10-9 during the second period, the score went into halftime with a score of 24-14 in favor of the Bluejays.
Out of halftime, Pierce continued to fight hard and ended the third quarter with a score of 17-11.
Finally, in the fourth quarter, Pierce managed to keep the score low by using their quick feet and keeping the ball in their hands, outscoring the Knights 9-8 in the last quarter. This quarter left the Bluejays with an ending score of 50-34, making Pierce victorious.
According to L. Cone, the Bluejays have been working extremely hard on being aggressive on the wing and knocking down 3-pointers, which they were able to achieve.
“All of our guards really stepped up for our team last night. They were knocking down the shots from wherever the ball was, and one of the biggest things that contributed to our team getting a lot of points and being very aggressive on the wing. We ended up knocking down some three pointers, which was really great to see, because we’ve been struggling a lot with them and have improved extremely,” L. Cone said.
Some other highlights of the game were A. Cone leading the team with five defensive rebounds,
Moeller had three steals, and Emily Endorf made four assists.
