Loyal girls take on Columbus at home

By Harry Toufar In the early stages of this season, the Loyal girls basketball team has fallen into a dubious routine. They lost their home opener to Marathon. They went on the road and won against Colby. Back home, they lost to Spencer and then won at Thorp. They then hosted Neillsville and lost that contest. Winning every other game, the odds makers would say Loyal would win against Columbus Catholic on Dec. 17. But, they had not won on their home court. Which scenario would the fans be witness to?

Hungry for a home court victory, the Greyhounds came out firing on all cylinders. The first 15 points were registered by all 3-pointers. Columbus was first to strike from beyond the arc. Sophomore Mallory Jakobi countered for Loyal by making two 3-pointers. The Dons scored from deep to tie the game, only to see senior Olivia Nikolai hit a three of her own, putting the Hounds up by three. They were the first points of a 10-0 run by Loyal. Autumn Zvolena hit for two, Nikolai added her second 3-pointer and Summer Smith scored two, putting her team up 16-6.

Columbus ended their slump by scoring a basket only to see Loyal score seven more unanswered points. Jakobi, Annika Schley, Zvolena and Nikolai all scored, pushing the lead to 23-8. Loyal was outscored 13-6 from that point on, but still led 29-21 heading into the locker room. Jakobi, Alexis Meyer and Hannah Strey each scored a basket, rounding out the first half scoring for Loyal.

While Columbus was able to score two baskets, Autumn Zvolena started the second half by hitting from long range for three, made a 2-pointer and added two free throws to give the Greyhounds a 10-point lead with 11 minutes left on the clock. While Columbus was able to add eight points to their total, they also got into foul trouble. The next eight points for Loyal were free throws as Schley went 4-for-4, Jakobi 2-for-2 and Nikolai 2-for 2, pushing their lead back to 10 with seven minutes left. Columbus was only able to add two more baskets while Loyal tacked on 13 more. Schley finished with a 2-pointer and a free throw. Autumn Smith was 3 of 5 from the charity stripe. Nikolai added two baskets and Zvolena added a 3-pointer. For the game, Loyal shot 80% from the free throw line, making 17 of 21. The confident performance gave Loyal their first home win, 57-39. Zvolena and Nikolai each scored 14 points to lead the way for Loyal. Jakobi added 12. Schley (8), Smith (5), Strey (2) and Meyer (2) rounded out the scoring for Loyal. The Greyhounds evened their record to 2-2 in the Cloverbelt–East (3-3 overall).

Friday night, they traveled to Gilman and will be at Rosholt on Dec. 30 for a non-conference game. That game will start at 12:30 p.m. They return to conference action on Jan. 9 when they host Owen-Withee.

On right: Annika Schley of Loyal scores 2 points in the final minutes of the Greyhounds’ home game against Columbus Dec. 17.