ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLE BASKETBALL

ELYRIA GIRLS FINISH 7TH AT ELI WALTER INVITE

By Staff

            ELBING – At the Eli Walter Memorial Invitational in Elbing hosted by Berean Academy last week, the Elyria Christian girls finished seventh after losing on Thursday to Hutchinson Central Christian before bouncing back for a 14-point win over Solomon on Friday.

            On Thursday, the Lady Eagles lost a heartbreaker, one-point game, 26-27, to Hutchinson Central Christian at the Eli Walter Invitational hosted by Berean Academy.

            “This was a tough way to lose when the game was so even through all four quarters,” pointed out Lady Eagle head coach Greg Fields. “I was proud of the effort our girls put out against a good Central Christian team. We were down a couple of players, and I thought that everyone really stepped up and stayed focused throughout the game.”

            Close was the understatement of the game as it was tied, 2-2, at the end of the first quarter, and still tied at 15-15 heading into the halftime break. After still being deadlocked at 24-24 at the third quarter,  both teams struggled to get points on the board in the fourth with Central Christian putting up three to Elyria’s two, giving the Lady Eagles the  one-point loss.

            Only three Lady Eagles scored in the game with Addison Swenson and Joy Pyle dominating the scoresheet by putting up 13  and 11 points, respectively. Pyle led the team in rebounds with five while Grace Prescott, the only other Lady Eagle to score with a pair of points, dished out five assists.

            Coach Fields final reflections on the tough loss came when ne added, “Addison (Swenson) always seemed to have an  answer with a big three when we needed one as she and Grace (Prescott) provided outstanding leadership both before and during the game. Joy (Pyle) did a better job of rebounding and scoring in the game and as a team, we did much better at protecting the ball with fewer turnovers. This game came down to missing a few open looks in the fourth quarter, but overall, our girls did a great job of executing the  game plan.”

            In concluding their run at the Invitational, the Lady Eagles played Solomon for seventh-place on Friday and pulled out a 14-point, 43-29 win.

            Elyria ran out to a nine-point, 16-7 lead at the end of the first quarter before pushing out to a 13-point, 29-16 advantage at the halftime break.

            “This was a great win over a much-improved Solomon team,” said coach Fields. “They have some good size, and they did a nice job utilizing their bigs around the basket. They have also improved in handling the press, so I was happy that we took care of the ball and showed a lot of patience on offense since we did not have as many transition points as I was hoping for.”

            The Elyria defense force Solomon into making 17 turnovers of which 11 came from steals. The Lady Eagles also connected on seven three-pointers to just one for Solomon.

            Addison Swenson led the team in scoring with 16 points while Grace Prescott hit for nine and both Joy Pyle and Kami Noggle had eight. Swenson scored four three pointers, while Pyle led the team in rebounds with eight and Prescott directed the offense, handing out seven assists.

            Coach Fields concluded his thoughts on the Invitational by saying, “Grace (Prescott) had a great game with seven assists and just one turnover and Addison (Swenson) came up big for us with her three-pointers. Kami (Noggle) came off the bench today and had one of her best games offensively. Joy (Pyle) had a really strong fourth quarter and led the team in rebounds plus Haven Bower got her first start of the season and played really well.”

            Now 6-6 on the season and winning five of the past seven games, the Lady Eagles return to the competitive court on Tuesday at home when they play host to the Wichita Defenders.

LADY EAGLE BASKETBALL vs. Hutchinson Central Christian

Tuesday, January 23

SCORING = Lady Eagles lost 26-27

Lady Eagles = 2-13-9-2 = 26; Hutchinson Central Christian = 2-13-9-3 = 27.

TEAM STATS =

Lady Eagles = 2fgs – 6/16; 3-pts – 4/23; fts – 2/6; asst – 6; rebs (o/d)  - 16 (7/9); stls – 10; blks – 1; to – 12; fls – 12.

Central Christian = 2fgs – 11/28; 3pts – 1/12; fts – 2/6; rebs (o/d) – 32 (15-17); stls – 6; blks – 1; to – 14; fls – 10.

LADY EAGLE INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS =

Scoring (26) = Swenson – 13; Pyle – 11; Prescott – 2.

3-Pointers Made (4) = Swenson – 3; Pyle – 1.

Assists (6) = Prescott – 5; Pyle – 1.

Rebounds (16) = Pyle – 5; Swenson, Amelia Moody, Haven Bower – 3; Prescott – 1.

Steals (10) = Pyle, Prescott, Noggle, Moody – 2; Swenson, Bower – 1.

Blocked Shots (1) = Pyle – 1.

LADY EAGLE BASKETBALL vs. Solomon

Friday, January 24

SCORING = Lady Eagles won 43-29

Lady Eagles = 16-13-7-7 = 43; Solomon = 7-9-9-4 = 29.

TEAM STATS =

Lady Eagles = 2fgs – 11/24; 3pts – 7/27; fts – 0/2; asst – 13; rebs (o/d) – 25 (12/13); stls – 11; blks – 3; to – 6; fls – 11.

Solomon = 2fgs – 9/32; 3pts – 1/3; fts – 8/10; rebs (o/d) – 23 (9/14); stls – 3; blks – 1; to – 17; fls – 5.

LADY EAGLE INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS =

Scoring (43) = Addison Swenson – 16; Grace Prescott – 9; Joy Pyle, Kami Noggle – 8; Haven Bower – 2.

3-Pointers Made (7) = Swenson – 4r; Noggle – 2; Prescott – 1.

Assists (13) = Prescott – 7; Bower – 2; Swenson, Pyles, Noggle, Amelia Moody – 1.

Rebounds (25) = Pyle – 8; Swenson – 5; Prescott – 4; Noggle, Bower, Moody – 3; Londyn Olsen – 1.

Steals (11) = Swenson – 3; Prescott, Noggle – 2; Pyle, Moody – 1.

Blocked Shots (3) = Pyle – 2; Swenson – 1.