The Langford Area girls basketball team weathered a late rally from Hitchcock-Tulare to post its first win of the season 43-41 on Saturday.
Coach Michael Alberts’ club dropped a 62-53 decision to Ipswich on Friday and fell to Estelline-Hendricks 40-37 last week Tuesday to stand at 1-3 heading into a game with Wilmot last night Tuesday. The Lady Lions will then have a nine-day holiday break before traveling to Lemmon on Thursday, Dec. 28.
“Our girls have been working very hard and I think it has been showing on the basketball court.,” said Alberts. “One thing that we have really improved on has been taking care of the basketball. Since we have been able to take better care of the ball, we’ve been getting better offensive possessions. We have had good team play and more girls are scoring the basketball.
“Defensively, we have done a good job. We want to do a better job of covering good shooters and rebounding better. We have been battling through some injuries and sicknesses so hopefully we can be at full strength when we come back from break and keep improving.”
Langford Area 43 Hitchcock-Tulare 41
Langford Area boosted a six-point halftime to 10 points after three quarters and then survived a 13-4 Hitchcock-Tulare run over the final four minutes.
Megan Gustafson put a rebound back up for two and then swished a 12-footer to give the Lady Lions their biggest lead of the game at 3723 with 6:10 to play. But the Patriots made things interesting when LA managed just a single field goal the rest of the way.
Sophomore Cambree Hoeckman hit two of her four treys in the game in a two-minute stretch to cut the margin to eight with 3:54 left. H-T was within three with 42 seconds to play but Paytyn Marlow hit a fielder to give LA a little breathing room. Then Hoeckman added a pair of free tosses to keep it a three-point game and fouled Gustafson with 7.2 seconds remaining. Gustafson hit the second of her two frree tosses to put the game away and H-0T scored at the buzzer.
Gustafson led the Lady Lions with 18 points and Marlow and Alex Darling had eight each.
HITHCOCK-TULARE: Isabel Gilbert 2 0-0 4, Emmerie Arthurs 3 12 7, Gracyn Bixler 1 0-0 2, Rebecca Huizenga 3 0-0 6, Cambree Hoekman 6 2-2 18, Jocelyn Wagner 2 0-0 4. Totals 17 3-4 41.
LANGFORD AREA: Paytyn Marlow 2 3-4 8, Tawnee Nelson 2 1-5 5, Alex Darling 3 1-1 8, Megan Gustafson 5 6-7 18, Eliana Darling 1 2-2 4. Totals 13 13-19 43.
HT (1-2) 7 17 22 41 LA (1-3) 11 23 33 43
3-point goals – Hoekman (4); M. Gustafson (2), A. Darling, Marlow. Total fouls – HT 21, LA 13
Ipswich 62 Langford Area 53
LA trailed by just seven at halftime but Ipswich outscored the Lady Lions 11-5 in the third period and then the two clubs exploded for a total of 48 fourth quarter points.
Alberts’ squad had 26 fourth quarter points, nearly doubling its effort in the first three periods, but Ipswich nearly matched that effort with 22 points of its own.
Megan Gustafson led a balanced LA effort with 14 points, Tawnee Nelson added 13 points and six rebounds, and Alex Darling 11 points and six steals. Lizzie Gustafson was credited with nine assists.
LANGFORD AREA: Paytyn Marlow 1 5-10 8, Tawnee Nelson 5 34 13, Alex Darling 4 3-10 11, Megan Gustafson 6 1-1 14, Eliana Darling 2 0-0 4, Lizzie Gustafson 1 1-2 3. Totals 19 1327 53.
IPSWICH : Brianna Geditz 1 2-2 4, Gabby Wald 7 10-14 28, Kaylin Onken 4 2-6 10, Tristan Geditz 2 0-0 4, Anna Nierman 1 2-4 4, Marley Guthmiller 4 1-4 9, Reaghan Bowers 1 0-0 2, Natalie Crissman 0 1-2 1. Totals 20 18-32 62.
LA (0-3) 14 22 27 53 Ipswich (1-3) 19 29 40 62
3-point goals – Marlow, M. Gustafson; Wald (4). Totals fouls – LA 21, Ipswich 21.
Estelline-Hendricks 40 Langford Area 37
The two teams exchanged two-point leads in the opening two periods, were tied after three quarters, and the visitors outscored LA 10-7 in the final eight minutes for the win.
Mergan Gustafson laced 14 points and Alex Darling added 12 for LA.
ESTELLINE-HENDRICKS
: Sadie Johnson 6 1-1 16, Kenzy ricks-Beare 3 3-3 10, Brooke Johnson 2 1-2 6, Claire Dagel 1 0-0 2, Danelyn Greene 2 0-0 6, Emma Pierce 0 0-2 0. Totals 14 58 40.
LANGFORD AREA: Paytyn Marlow 1 0-0 2, Tawnee Nelson 2 0-0 4, Alex Darling 2 6-7 12, Megan Gustafson 5 1-6 14, Eliana Darling 0 1-4 1, Lizzie Gustafson 1 2-2 4. Totals 11 10-19 37.
EH (2-0) 9 16 30 40 LA (0-2) 11 14 30 37
3-point goals – S. Johnson (3), Greene (2), B. Johnson, Beare; M. Gustafson (3), A. Darling (2). Total fouls – EH 14, LA 10
