The Langford Area girls basketball team wasn’t able to chalk up a win in three outings during the past week, but Coach Michael Alberts likes what he has seen from his ballclub.
The Lady Lions dropped a 45-25 decision to Hitchcock-Tulare on Saturday, fell to Ipswich 46-37 on Thursday, and lost to Estelline-Hendricks 43-21 last week Tuesday. This week LA plays at Wilmot on Friday in a twin bill with the boys team (JV girls 4 p.m., JV boys, varsity girls, varsity boys to follow).
“I am very happy with how hard our girls have been playing these last three games. They have been improving each game we have played so far, which has been great to see,” said Alberts. “We have also done a pretty good job of taking care of the ball which has led to us getting good shots. Now, we just need to finish those shots and get points on the board.
“I’ve been proud of our girls playing extremely hard in all our games all the way to the end of the game no matter how it was going for them. These girls have great attitudes, and we are going to keep getting better and better.”
Hitchcock-Tulare 45
Langford Area 25
Langford Area led 8-7 after one period but were outscored 38-17 the rest of the way in falling to Hitchcock-Tulare.
The hosts went on a 13-3 second quarter run to lead 20-11 at halftime and then doubled that advantage to 36-17 after three stanzas to take charge.
“Hitchcock-Tulare had a good inside-out game, which made it hard for us to stop them,” noted Alberts.
Paytyn Marlow led the Lady Lions with 10 points. Eliana Darling pulled down seven rebounds with Clarissa Guy and Lizzie Gustafson grabbing five each, and Marlow and Alex Darling each had a pair of assists.
LANGFORD AREA: Paytyn Marlow 4 1-3 10, Lizzie Gustafson 2 0-0 5, Alex Darling 1 0-0 3, Eliana Darling 1 2-4 4, Brynn Samson 0 1-2 1, Autumn Wegleitner 1 0-0 2. Totals 9 4-9 25.
HITCHCOCK-TULARE: Katelyn Schroeder 2 0-0 4, Isabel Gilbert 2 5-5 9, Gracyn Bixler 5 0-0 11, Cambree Hoekman 4 2-2 11, Emmerie Arthurs 3 2-2 8, Emma Schneider 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 9-9 45.
LA (1-3) 8 11 17 25
HT (2-1) 7 20 36 45
3-point goals - Marlow, Gustafson, A. Darling; Bixler, Hoekman. Total fouls – LA 9, HT 15.
Ipswich 46
Langford Area 35
Ipswich outscored the Lady Lions 13-2 in the final quarter to pull away from a 33-33 tie after three periods.
LA grabbed a 15-9 first quarter lead and was up 26-23 at halftime before Ipswich battled back in the second half.
“It was a very close game throughout, but towards the end they were able to get some stops, and capitalized on their end,” said Alberts. “We ultimately just ran out of gas, but we did a lot of good things on both sides of the ball.”
Paytyn Marlow laced 11 points and Alex Darling and Clarissa Guy each added nine for LA. Eliana Darling had 10 rebounds, Guy had six,and Lizzie Gustafson five. Alex Darling, Marlow, and Gustafson each had two assists.
IPSWICH:: Brianna Geditz 1 0-1 3, Marley Guthmiller 6 0-2 12, Gabby Wald 5 2-2 14, Kaylin Onken 5 0-2 10, Tristan Geditz 2 0-0 5, Anna Nierman 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 2-7 46.
LANGFORD AREA: Paytyn Marlow 4 1-2 11, Alexandria Darling 3 1-2 9, Eliana Darling 3 0-0 6, Clarissa Guy 3 3-7 9. Totals 13 5-11 35.
Ipswich (3-1) 9 23 33 46
LA (1-2) 15 26 33 35
3-point goals- B. Geditz, Wald 2, T. Geditz; Marlow 2, A. Darling 2. Fouled out - Mariah Tosse. Total Fouls – Ipswich 11; LA 10.
Estelline-Hendricks
Langford Area
Estelline-Hendricks jumped out to a 27-9 halftime lead and Langford Area was not able to dig out of that hole.
“Estelline-Hendricks came out shooting really well and unfortunately for us, we had a hard time making a bucket, shooting 16%,” said Alberts. “We did a great job getting a lot of good, open looks, we just weren’t able to get anything to fall.”
Paytyn Marlow led LA with 11 points. Eliana Darling had 11 rebounds and Mariah Tosse pulled down eight misses.
LANGFORD AREA: Eliana Darling 2 2-7 6, Paytyn Marlow 4 0-2 11, Clarissa Guy 0 1-4 1, Alex Darling 0 1-2 1, Lizzie Gustafson 1 0-0 2. Totals 7-45 4-15 21.
ESTELLINE-HENDRICKS: Danelyn Green 12, Brooke Johnson 10, Ayla Texley 13, Elyse Wegner 3, Presly Bury 2, Maycee Faehnrich 3.
LA (1-1) 5 9 18 21
EH (1-2) 15 27 36 43
3-point goals – Marlow 3.
