Hounds down Dons, but lose at Colby

The Loyal girls basketball team shored up its second-place standing in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference with a 55-33 win over third-place Marshfield Columbus on Jan. 22. Three nights later, the Greyhounds stumbled with a loss on the road at Colby, but Columbus lost to league-leading Neillsville to keep Loyal firmly in the runner-up seat.

Loyal got balanced scoring at home against Columbus and knocked down seven shots from 3-point range to take the 22-point win. Loyal jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but Columbus came back with three straight 3-pointers from Kelsey Moore to get back in it at 19-15 with 7 minutes left in the half. Savanannah Schley then scored the next five points in the game as Loyal mounted a 12-2 run to take a 31-17 lead at the half.

Loyal srarted the second half with an 11-4 run to take a 42-21 lead.

On the night, Loyal shot 49 percent (16-33) overall from the floor and hit seven of 14 shots from 3-point range. Loyal was 2-7 at the line.

Schley led the Greyhounds with 15 points while Katlyn Lindner scored 12 and Kayla Bremmer added 10.

Moore’s 3-point burst in the first half accounted for all of her points as she led the Dons with nine. Columbus shot 34 percent overall (12-35) and was 5-13 on 3-pointers and 4-6 at the line.

At Colby on Monday, Schley poured in 29 points but that was not enough as Loyal fell 57-44 to the Hornets. Loyal actually led 46-42 with less than three minutes to play, but a 6-0 Hornet run put the pressure on the Greyhounds and they committed several turnovers down the stretch. Colby finished the game on a 17-2 run.

Schley scored 16 first-half points as Loyal trailed 24-21 at the break. Bremmer scored nine points, but no one else for the Greyhounds managed more than two.

Loyal hurt itself badly at the free-throw line, making only five of 17 shots in the game. Colby was 16-28 on free throws.

Lexi Underwood and Emma Peavey each scored 18 points for Colby and Brooke Suckow added 13.

DEAN LESAR/STAFF PHOTO

DEAN LESAR/STAFF PHOTO