Colby rallies late but Indians survive upset bid

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Colby girls basketball team fell in their two Cloverbelt- East contests over the past week, losing on the road to Spencer last Tuesday evening before dropping a closely contested game to Greenwood at home on Friday.

A second period rally nearly propelled the Hornets to an upset over Greenwood, who currently sits in second place in the conference, but the deficit they had found themselves in after the first half of play was too much to overcome as they lost 62-57 against the Indians.

While Colby shot better, putting up a 36.4 field goal percentage compared to Greenwood’s 22.5 percent, and grabbed more rebounds, pulling in 47 to the Indians’ 42, it was the visitors’ ability to create turnovers, especially in the first half, and get to the free throw line in the second period that put them over the top.

The Indians’ full court pressure made it difficult for Colby to find any sort of offensive flow early. Though the Hornets were able to take a 5-2 lead, Greenwood’s defense stepped up. They forced 20 turnovers from the Hornets over the first eight minutes of the game while keeping Colby to just four shot attempts. This was in the midst of a 21-4 run for the Indians, a stretch where the Hornets only points came from the free throw line, all courtesy of Angelique Hernandez.

Lilly Brzezinski ended the Hornets 11-minute field goal drought with a putback basket with four-and-a-half minutes left in the half and while the Hornets’ offense found a little more success over the final stretch of the first period, they still found themselves down 33-17 at the break.

Despite their struggles on offense, Colby came out of halftime with a better attack of Greenwood’s full court defense. Hernandez found Alexis Vanderhoof on an excellent cut to the basket and the Hornets put up points on their first possession.

The basket kicked off a 17-3 run for Colby. Vanderhoof put up eight points during the run and her layup with 10 minutes left in the game brought the Hornets within two points. During the rally, Colby only had two turnovers, taking away an aspect of Greenwood’s quick-hitting offense.

After a timeout, the Indians seemed to regroup, hitting a three on their next possession after going the first eight minutes of the period without a field goal. The visitors pulled back out to a 42-34 lead before Colby launched their next rally. They went on a 9-1 run to pull even with Greenwood, a three from Hernandez tying the game at 43-43.

However, the fouls were beginning to pile up for the Hornets, hurting them both in terms of player availability and giving Greenwood free throw opportunities. The Indians scored 16 of their 29 second period points from the free throw line and three Colby players would foul out of the game. This would allow Greenwood to inch away once more, and while back-to-back threes from Hernandez and Brynn Polivka would help the Hornets draw back within one at 56-55, Colby was not able to completely overcome the early hole they had found themselves in and the Indians slipped away with a 6257 win.

Hernandez led the team with 21 points, going 3-for-6

See COLBY GIRLS BB/ Page 16

PUTTING UP POINTS - Alexis Vanderhoof lays the ball over a defender for a score in Colby’s game against Greenwood last Friday.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD

SURVEYING THE COURT - Brynn Polivka looks for an open teammate in the Hornets battle against the Indians.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD Colby girls BB

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from three point range. Vanderhoof added 11 points and Brzezinski had a double-double, putting up 10 points while capturing a gamehigh 15 rebounds. She also had five steals and four blocks.

Polivka finished with eight points and eight rebounds, Harrison Schmitt had six points and Olivia Krause had one point and four assists.

The Hornets were also dealt a 64-46 loss in their road game against Spencer last Tuesday. The Rockets had eight players score while being led by a 24-point performance from Autumn Davis. Hernandez led Colby’s offense with 20 points herself, but the Hornets were not able to keep up with Spencer on their home court, splitting their regular season series with their Cloverbelt-East rivals.

Dakota Hoeper had eight points, Schmitt put up seven, Vanderhoof added six, and Polivka finished with five points in the loss.

The pair of defeats pushed the Hornets to 3-15 overall and 1-10 in conference play. Their next chance to get back into the win column will be a trip to Columbus Catholic on Thursday, Feb. 1. The Dons are 7-12 this season and are in the midst of a six game skid, having lost their most recent game to McDonell on Tuesday evening. The last three contests between the Hornets and Columbus have been extremely close, with all three being decided in the final minute of the game. The Dons have come out on top in each of them, winning their most recent matchup 53-49 in Colby earlier this year, so the Hornets will be looking to finally notch a win over the Cloverbelt-East foes. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.