Hornets can’t find answers to Athens, Loyal

The Colby Hornets girls basketball team fell in both of their games this past week, losing in Athens Monday night and dropping a home game against Loyal last Friday. The two losses brought Colby’s overall record to 1-7.

77-58

The Hornets traveled to Athens on Monday night to take on the Bluejays in a non-conference matchup. While the Hornets were able to stick around in opening minutes, the undefeated Bluejays remained as such, pulling away late in the first period and winning 77-58.

A 30-point effort from senior Hayden Willner was not enough to overcome Athens’ offensive firepower, though the Hornets were certainly giving the Bluejays something to think about early in the game.

After going down 9-2 to start the game, Colby battled back. They went on a 14-9 run over the next eight minutes, a three-point shot from Harrison Schmitt and Willner contributing eight of those points being highlights. A breakaway layup by Willner capped off the run and brought the visiting Hornets within one.

Athens was not to be outdone, however, and a corner three-point shot from Celina Ellenbecker on the very next possession would draw that lead back out to four for the Bluejays. Up 20-16 with just over six minutes to play, a somewhat dormant Athens offense finally seemed to come to life, as the Jays went on a 16-7 run to close out the half.

The home team continued to add on to the momentum they had built at the end of the first half, opening the second half with a 16-0 run. Colby’s scoring drought finally ended when Angelique Hernandez hit a three with 12:40 left to play, but the damage had largely been done. Since bringing the score within one at 16-17, the Hornets had been outscored 35-7 before Hernandez’s three, giving Athens more than enough cushion to handily take the game.

In the final two minutes of the game, the Hornets did manage to go on a 13-0 run of their own to close out the game, which may be something to build on going forward. Willner continued to turn steals into fast break points and Hernandez capped off the scoring with a long three in the final seconds of the game.

Willner finished the game with 30 points to lead the Hornets, followed by Hernandez with nine, all of which she scored in the second half. Kylie Orth and Dakota Hoeper contributed five points each, Alexis Vanderhoof had four and Schmitt ended the game with three.

41-28

A matchup between Colby and their Cloverbelt rival Loyal seemed the perfect opportunity to right the ship for the Hornets. However, after an opening featuring much in the way of offensive futility by both teams, the Greyhounds were the team that emerged from that slump to claim the victory, defeating their hosts 41-28.

The clock was frozen at 14:32 when Colby’s Dakota Hoeper sunk a free throw. The first point of the game, one of the zeroes on the scoreboard begrudgingly shifted to a “1,” signaling that the scoring drought for one team was over. Another two-and-a-half minutes and the game had its first field goal off of the left hand of Hornets’ Trisha Vanderhoof. Loyal finally got on the scoreboard after nearly eight minutes of game time. Sheila Tellock nailed a jump shot from the elbow to get her team on the board.

With Tellock’s basket, the laborious opening minutes came to a close, with the two teams combining for 24 points over the final 10 minutes of the half, which, while not a particularly high number, was significantly more than the five combined points between the two Cloverbelt teams over the first eight minutes. Loyal benefited the most from the increased scoring, coming away with an 18-11 lead at halftime.

AlayupfromSavanaThomsenbrought the Hornets within five points early in the second half, but that would be all the closer Colby would get. They continued to struggle on the offensive end and the Greyhounds would build their lead back out to double-digits, despite shooting woes of their own at times.

No Hornet had more than two made baskets and they shot 7-18 from the free throw line. Kylie Orth led the scoring for the Hornets with five points, her made three-point attempt in the first half the only such shot made by Colby all evening. Thomsen, Alexis Vanderhoof and Hayden Willner had four points each, Hoeper and Harrison Schmitt had three each, Trisha Vanderhoof and Angelique Hernandeze contributed two apiece and Hannah Trush had one point.

Colby will host Neillsville this Thursday, Dec. 15. The Warriors sit atop the Cloverbelt-East conference and have yet to lose a game this season. They are coming off a 71-29 victory over Alma Center Lincoln and their closest game this year was a 49-24 drubbing of Columbus Catholic. The game is set to start at 7:15 p.m.