Warriors deal Colby 74-30 home defeat
By Nathaniel Underwood
Turnovers were the name of the game in the Cloverbelt-East matchup between the Hornets and the visiting Neillsville squad last Thursday evening. While Colby finished the game with a higher shooting percentage and effective field goal percentage than their opponents, the Warriors used a swarming defensive effort to cut down on the Hornets opportunities while giving them plenty of extra shots, eventually defeating Colby 74-30. The Hornets finished with a slightly higher field goal percentage, shooting 37.0 percent from the field compared to Neillsvile’s 36.1 percent, and had a better three-point shooting percentage, hitting 40.0 percent of their shots compared to the Warriors 27.0 percent. However, Colby attempted just 29 shots all game, compared to 72 shots for the visitors.
This disparity came partially from turnovers, of which the Hornets had 41, which led to 49 points for Neillsville, and partially from the Warriors ability to rebound. Colby opponents’ grabbed 25 offensive boards, leading to 20 second chance points.
A 19-5 start put the Hornets in an early hole. A fast break basket from Alexis Vanderhoof and a pair of free throws from Lucia Perez helped Colby keep pace for a stretch, but a 14-3 run for the Warriors pushed that deficit to 23 points.
Down 35-12, the home team started to rally late in the first period. Angelique Hernandez hit two threes and Harrison Schmitt sank another shot from beyond the arc to give Colby points on three consecutive possessions. Vanderhoof then capped off the run with a putback layup not long after, giving the Hornets 11 unanswered points. Colby could not find that same production in the second half. Hernandez converted on an old-fashioned three-point play three minutes into the period, but the Hornets were held scoreless for the next nine minutes of game time. By the time Lilly Brzezinski got Colby back on the scoreboard with a made free throw, Neillsville had scored 19 straight points and had assumed full control over the contest.
Hernandez and Schmitt co-led the team with nine points each, Perez had five points and Vanderhoof added four. Brzezinski finished with three points. Vanderhoof and Brzezinski led the Hornets in rebounding picking up six and five boards respectively and Hernandez had the most assists with three.
The Hornets will be back in action with a road trip to Loyal on Friday, Jan. 17. When the two Cloverbelt-East teams met earlier in the season, the Greyhounds got the upper hand, dealing Colby a 48-32 defeat. Loyal is currently 4-7 and is coming off a 42-29 loss to Greenwood on Tuesday night. The game between the Hornets and the Greyhounds will start at 7:15 p.m.
