Hornets fall to Loyal, Gilman to start conference play
By Nathaniel Underwood
The Colby girls basketball team opened their Cloverbelt-East schedule with a pair of losses, falling to Loyal at home last Tuesday before suffering a defeat in Gilman on Friday night. The losses dropped the Hornets below .500 at 2-3 so far this season.
Gilman, 53-28
The Hornets went on the road to take on Gilman last Friday evening, hoping to even their conference record at 1-1. While things started off well for the visiting Colby squad, an offensive explosion for the Pirates at the end of the first half put the Hornets in a deficit they could not recover from, eventually falling 53-28.
Colby was able to force 33 turnovers out of the Pirates but surrendered the ball 39 times themselves, leading to 24 points off turnovers for Gilman and just 12 for the Hornets. Gilman also had a huge advantage from the free throw line. They shot 32 free throws and made half of them, while Colby managed just eight attempts and two makes from the charity stripe.
Alexis Vanderhoof helped the Hornets take an early lead, hitting a three point shot that put Colby up 3-2. A basket off an offensive rebound by Elizabeth Perez added to the Hornets lead and while the offense fell silent for a stretch, the Hornets’ defense held the Pirates to just two points over the first six minutes of the game.
While two quick baskets gave Gilman the lead, Angelique Hernandez and Lilly Brzezinski scored on consecutive possessions to help Colby regain their advantage. Alia Hamus hit a three later to give the Hornets their biggest lead of the game at 12-8.
But momentum quickly shifted to the Pirates as they began to see dividends from their full court press. In the final five and a half minutes of the half, the Hornets turned the ball over 14 times, allowing Gilman a number of fast break opportunities. The home team capitalized on enough of them to outscore Colby 17-1 in the period’s final minutes, giving them a 25-13 advantage at halftime.
Vanderhoof was able to find Hernandez on a fast break to get the Hornets on the board first in the second period and though the Hornets kept Gilman’s lead from growing much larger over the first seven minutes, they could not close the gap either.
Holding a 35-22 advantage, a 10-0 run for the Pirates all but sealed their victory. A three from Hernandez ended Gilman’s scoring streak, but with a 20-point lead and only four minutes left to play, the home team was able to cruise to a 53-28 win.
Hernandez led the team in scoring with eight points and she also brought down seven rebounds and had two assists. Perez finished with six points, six rebounds, and two assists, Brzezinski had four points and six rebounds, and Vanderhoof, Hamus and Harrison Schmitt all had three points each. Schmitt and Vanderhoof co-led the team in steals with three apiece. Brynn Polivka had a team high nine rebounds and one point.
Loyal, 48-32
While the Hornets were able to outscore Loyal 25-21 in the second half, a sevenpoint first half performance from Colby put them in a hole they could not dig themselves out of, falling to the Greyhounds 4832 in their Cloverbelt-East opener.
The visiting Loyal squad used a strong first half performance, both on offense and defense, to take full control over the contest between conference rivals. Even after slowing in the latter portion of the second half, the Greyhounds still shot 46.2 percent from the field and made seven three-point shots. The Hornets, meanwhile, shot 30.0 percent and made just one of their 11 three point field goals.
An early basket from Alexis Vanderhoof gave Colby a 2-0 advantage to open the game, but that would be the only lead the Hornets would hold all game. A few possessions later, Loyal tied the game at 2-2 and while the home team’s defense did not give the Greyhounds much to work with, the Hornets were held scoreless for eight minutes.
Loyal took advantage, scoring 11 straight points before Colby got themselves back on the board. A layup from Alia Hamus doubled the home team’s total with a little over eight minutes left in the first half, but the visitors went on another run that ultimately felled the Hornets.
Another 13 straight points went to Loyal and they went on to outscore Colby 27-4 over the last half of the first period and the opening minutes of the second. Down 388, a layup from Vanderhoof followed by a three from Brynn Polivka got the Hornets back on track.
The two plays started a 24-7 run for Colby over the next 12 minutes. Six different players scored for Colby over the stretch and Loyal committed 14 turnovers, 10 of which came via Colby steals. A transition basket from Elizabeth Perez following a steal brought the Hornets back within 13, but with only two minutes left to play, the Greyhounds were able to hold on and still net a double digit victory.
Colby’s aggression paid off on defense in the second half and they ended the game with 19 steals to Loyal’s seven. However, the Hornets still committed 24 turnovers and Loyal was able to score 26 points off of lost possession by Colby. The Greyhounds also won the rebound battle, collecting 33 boards to Colby’s 22.
Vanderhoof led the Hornets in scoring, finishing the game with nine points. Lilly Brzezinski and Harrison Schmitt both had six points each and Brzezinski co-led the team in rebounds with five and had four steals. Hamus had a team-high five steals and added four points, Perez added four points and three steals and Polivka ended the game with three points, five rebounds and three steals.
