The Britton-Hecla girls basketball team picked up its third win of the season with a 45-29 decision over crosscounty rival Langford Area on Friday.
Last week Tuesday the Lady Braves dropped a 53-48 verdict to Wilmot and Monday B-H fell to Waubay-Summit 52-49 to stand at 3-6 on the season.
“We’re slowly getting there,” said B-H boss Terry Nelson. “Our rebounding has been good and our man-to-man defense has been better than I thought it would be. Our fullcourt pressure has also been better but when we get the ball we don’t reward ourselves with an easy bucket. The big key for us is our shooting has to come on and we have to start playing four quarters.”
Nelson is hoping a return to home territory will give his club a boost with a home game on Saturday. The Lady Braves have not played a home contest since Dec. 19 Coach Terry Nelson’s crew has a hectic week on tap, playing at Warner in a twin bill with the boys’ squad on Friday, hosting Waverly-South Shore in another doubleheader on Saturday (JV games 1 p.m., varsity girls, varsity boys to follow), going to Deuel with the boys’ team on Monday and taking on Leola-Frederick in Frederick in a twin bill on Tuesday,
Britton-Hecla 45 Langford Area 29
Britton-Hecla put together a strong second half to erase a two-point deficit and post a win in the cross-county rivalry game.
Both clubs started slowly with the Lady Braves leading 4-2 at the first quarter break. LA’s Megan Gustafson scored six straight points to boost the hosts to a 10-7 lead midway through the second stanza and eighth grader Alex Darling swished a trey and converted a traditional three-pointer to give LA a 16-11 lead. Anne Jensen countered with a trey for B-H to cut the margin to 16-14 at intermission.
The Lady Braves started fast in the third quarter thanks to Tiyanna Schott, and they never trailed again. She put a rebound back up for two and was fouled, converting the three-point play, and then added a bucket off a Jayden Bender assist. Addison Wade capped a 7-0 run for a 21-16 B-H lead.
Gustafson and Darling countered with hoops to cut the margin to 21-20, but the visitors went on a 7-1 run to end the quarter and led 28-21. LA did cut the margin to 32-26 on another Darling trey with 4:35 to play, but Britton-Hecla put the game away with an 110 run, led by a Bender trey and four free tosses from Alyssa James.
Sterling Brassfield led the Lady Braves with 12 points, and Bender added 10. Darling netted 13 and Gustafson 11 for the Lady Lions.
BRITTON-HECLA: Sterling Brassfield 5 2-5 12, Alyssa James 1 68 8, Jayden Bender 3 4-4 10, Tiyanna Schott 2 2-6 8, Addison Wade 1 0-0 2, RaeAnn Hagenson 1 0-1 2, Heather Storbakken 1 0-0 2, Anne Jensen 1 0-2 3, Annika Tank 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 11-26.
LANGFORD AREA: Tawnee Nelson 1 0-0 2, Kylie Schock 1 0-0 2, Megan Gustafson 4 3-4 11, Clarissa Guy 0 1-4 1, Alex Darling 4 2-3 13.
BH (3-5) 4 14 28 45 LA (0-7) 2 16 21 29 3-point goals – Bender, Jensen; Darling 3. Total fouls – BH 13, LA 19.
Wilmot 53 Britton-Hecla 48
Britton-Hecla cut a sixpoint first quarter deficit to one at halftime, but Wilmot boosted the lead back to five after three quarters and played the Lady Braves on even terms over the final eight minutes.
BRITTON-HECLA: Sterling Brassfield 2 1-2 5, Alyssa James 6 22 14, Jayden Bender 4 2-6 10, Tiyanna Schott 5 0-1 10, Addison Wade 1 1-2 3, RaeAnn Hagenson 1 1-2 3, Heather Storbakken 0 1-2 1, Lauryn Wegener 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 8-17 48.
B-H (2-5) 8 20 35 48 Wilmot (3-4) 14 21 40 53
Waubay-Summit 52 Britton-Hecla 49
Britton-Hecla led by four points with 1:40 to play but turnovers proved costly down the home stretch.
The Lady Braves cut a fivepoint first period deficit to two at halftime and Waubay-Summit hit a halfcourt shot at the buzzer at the end of the third period to go on top 3835.
B-H came roaring back to take its four-point lead but couldn’t hold on.
Sterling Brassfield led the Lady Braves with 14 points and Alyssa James added 10. B-H couldn’t find an answer for Waubay-Summit’s Eva Benike who pumped in 26 points, including four treys.
BRITTON-HECLA: Sterling Brassfield 6 2-5 14, Alyssa James 4 2-3 10, Jayden Bender 3 0-0 6, Tyanna Schott 4 0-0 8, Addison Wade 1 1-2 3, RaeAnn Hagenson 2 0-0 4, Heather Storbakken 2 0-1 4. Totals 22 5-11 49.
WAUBAY-SUMMIT: Eva Benike 9 4-4 26, Kailee Berger 4 0-1 8, Faith Larson 4 1-2 11, Peyton Rumpza 1 22 4, Brianna Lindholm 1 0-0 2, Aubrey Strang 0 1-2 1. Totals 19 8-11 52.
B-H (3-6) 8 19 35 49 W-S (5-3)13 21 38 52 3-point goals - Benike 4, Larsen. Total fouls – BH 12, WS 16.
