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

ELYRIA – After a bit of an early stumble, the Elyria Christian girls bounced back and scored an eight-point, 44-36 victory at home Tuesday over Herington.

Herington took an early three-point, 12-9 lead at the end of the first quarter before the Lady Eagles cranked up the offense and outscored the visitors 14-3 in the second quarter and gain an eight-point advantage at the halftime break. In the second half the two teams played nose-to-nose with Elyria holding on for the final eight-point win.

“I was happy with the way our girls battled against a very tough Herington team,” said Lady Eagle head coach Greg Fields. “This was a game that I knew would be a struggle just because it can be difficult to beat a really solid team twice. They have been missing one or two players throughout the season until now and now they are all healthy. They definitely put up a good fight.”

Ryland Hawkinson led the Lady Eagles in the scorebook with 16 points while Kylee Penner chipped in with 12 and Allie Stone had eight. Penner led the team on the boards with seven rebounds and in steals with four.

Coach Fields finished his reflections on the game by saying, “Everyone who played really contributed in a lot of ways in this game. We had three girls, KiLynn (Starburg), Allie (Stone), and Olivia (Clark) who dished out three assists each of the teams 12. Kylee (Penner) played with a lot of energy all game and while Alexus (Swenson) had a lot of three-pointers that rimmed out, she played some great defense and handled the ball extremely well on offense. Ryland (Hawkinson) once again continued shooting around 50% for the game.”

Now 11-4 for the season, the Lady Eagles will be on the road Friday at Little River who is currently ranked #3 in Class 1A Division I.

THE GAME                1          2          3          4          FINAL

LADY EAGLES           9          14       11       10       44

Herington                 12       3          8          13       36      

Herington Team Stats: FG 14/41 (34%); 3-PTR 6/22 (27%); FT 2/3 (67%); AST n/a; REBS 22; TO 22; STLS 6; BLK 5; PF 11.

ELYRIA LADY EAGLES TEAM STATS: FG 18/45 (40%); 3-PTR 3/16 (19%); FT 5/8 (62%); AST 12; REBS 20; TO 18; STLS 14; BLK 1; PF 9.

ELYRIA LADY EAGLES INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS: Scoring (44 total points): Ryland Hawkinson – 16; Kylee Penner – 12; Allie Stone – 8; Olivia Clark – 3; Alexus Swenson – 2; KiLynn Starburg – 2; Macy Reiff – 1. 3-Pointers Made (3): Stone – 2; Clark – 1.

Assists: Starburg, Stone, Clark – 3.

Rebounds: Penner – 7; Stone – 4; Starburg, Hawkingson – 2.

Steals: Penner – 4; Swenson, Stone – 3; Hawkinson – 2.

Blocked Shots: Starburg – 1.