By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com

GOESSEL – The Elyria Christian girls finally found the win column on Friday as they defeated Goessel by 16, 33-17 in the Bluebird Classic.

Using very stingy defense to go with poor shooting for Goessel, the Lady Eagles held Goessel to just one point in the first quarter while putting 11 on the board for themselves before both teams settled in to the battle one would expect. Goessel bounced back and outscored Elyria by a pair in the second quarter as the Lady Eagles hit the lockerroom for the halftime break with an 18-10 advantage on the scoreboard.

In the final two quarters, the Lady Eagles scored nine and eight points while holding Goessel to less than five in each, giving Elyria their first victory of the season with the 33-17 win.

“I was happy for our girls to get into the win column tonight,” pointed out Greg Fields, Lady Eagle head coach. “We played very aggressive defense and held a solid Goessel team to only two made fields goals for the entire game. We need to do a better job of keeping our hands off and not fouling, but I like the fact that we can get teams out of their comfort zones.”

Goessel struggled mightily at making baskets, connecting just twice from the field on 31 shots though they did a solid job of making 60% of their 20 free throw attempts.

The Lady Eagles hit 42% from the field but only made half of their eight free throws. Elyria committed 18 fouls to just eight for Goessel while outrebounding the tournament hosts 27-19 and making 15 steals on defense.

Ryland Hawkinson was the lone Lady Eagle to reach double digits in the scorebook as she had 13. Hawkinson also led the team in steals with six while both Alexus Swenson and Allie Stone each swiped four each. Kylee Penner led the work in the lane by pulling down a team high eight rebounds while Hawkinson had five and Olivia Clark grabbed four.

Coach Fields concluded his reflections on the game by saying, “Ryland (Hawkinson), Allie (Stone), and Alexus (Swenson) did a great job at blocking shots while Ryland was solid all night on offense and Kylee (Penner) was outstanding on the boards, especially in the second half.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR LADY EAGLES?

Now 1-2 for the season, the Lady Eagles will play Burrton on Saturday at 3:00 pm for third place in the Bluebird Classic.

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES vs. Goessel at the Bluebird Classic

SCORING:        1          2          3          4          FINAL

LADY EAGLES  11        7          9          8          33       

Goessel           1          9          4          3          17       

TEAM STATS:              LADY EAGLES  Goessel          

Shooting                     15/36 (42%)    2/31 (6%)

3-Pointers                   1/6 (17%)        1/13 (8%)

Free Throws                4/8 (50%)        12/20 (60%)

Rebounds (Off/Def)    27 (13/14)       19 (13/6)

Assists                         7                      0

Turnovers                   14                    11

Steals                          15                    0

Blocked Shots             3                      4

Personal Fouls            18                    9

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (33 Total Points): Ryland Hawkinson – 13; Julia Allen – 5; Kylee Penner – 4; Macy Reiff – 4; Allie Stone – 4; Alexus Swenson – 3.

Three-Pointers Made (1): Alexus Swenson – 1.

Rebound Leaders: Kylee Penner – 8; Ryland Hawkinson – 5; Olivia Clark – 4; Alexus Swenson, KiLynn Starburg – 3; Julia Allen, Macy Reiff – 2.

Assist Leader: KiLynn Starburg – 3.

Leader in Steals: Ryland Hawkinson – 6; Alexus Swenson, Allie Stone – 4;

Leader in Blocked Shots: Ryland Hawkinson, KiLynn Starburg, Olivia Clark – 1.