COLD SHOOTING COST ELYRIA GIRLS, LOSE TO CENTRAL CHRISTIAN

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

HUTCHINSON – When you only connect on 25% of your shots you likely will not win a game and that is exactly what happened to the Elyria Christian girls on Monday when they went on the road to play Central Christian and lost by 16, 47-31.

The Lady Eagles only shot 25% from the field while Central Christian hit on 43% of their shots from the field, including 50% of their three-pointers.

Elyria took an early four-point, 11-7 lead at the end of the first quarter before Central Christian outscored the Lady Eagles by nine in the second quarter to take a five-point advantage, 22-17, into the halftime break.

After only putting 14 points on the board in the final two quarters, the Lady Eagles lost by the final 16-point margin, 47-31.

“I was happy with the way our girls came out with a lot of confidence in the first quarter,” said Lady Eagle head coach Greg Fields. “Our posts were shooting the ball well from the outside, which forced their bigs to come out to the perimeter to defend. Our half-court defense was pretty solid for most of the game, but we really struggled in transition, especially in the second half.”

Two other glaring advantages for Central Christian in the stat sheet was in rebounds where they out rebounded Elyria 30-21 and in free throw attempts where Elyria only took four charity stripe attempts all night while Central Christian took 14, making 10.

Kylee Penner led the Lady Eagles in scoring with 10 while Ryland Hawkinson chipped in with nine.

Overall, Hawkinson had an outstanding night as she led Elyria in rebounds with six, blocked shots with five and assists with three despite getting into early foul trouble. Four other Lady Eagles recorded at least three rebounds while both Allie Stone and KiLynn Starburg each led the team with three steals.

Coach Fields concluded his post-game reflections by adding, “Ryland (Hawkinson) got in early foul trouble, but she really played smart, solid defense all night. We were very outmatched in height, yet Ryland had all five of her blocks after she had three fouls as she did a nice job of getting good position with her feet. KiLynn (Starburg), Alexus (Swenson), and Allie (Stone) did a great job defending and getting steals. We do need to do to a better job of turning those steals into points on the other end.”

Now 11-6 for the season, the Lady Eagles will honor the seniors on Friday when they play host to Marion.

Central Christian Team Stats = FG 17/40 (43%); 3-PTR 3/6 (50%); FT 10/14 (71%); AST 2; REBS 30; TO 17; STLS 6; BLK 6; PF 6.

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES TEAM STATS = FG 12/48 (25%); 3-PTR 5/20 (25%); FT 2/4 (50%); AST 9; REBS 24; TO 21; STLS 11; BLK 7; PF 13.

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS = SCORING (31 total points): Kylee Penner – 10; Ryland Hawkinson – 9; Allie Stone – 6; Raegan Hawkinson – 4; Julia Allen – 2. 3-POINTERS MADE (5): Ry. Hawkinson, Stone – 2; Penner – 1. ASSISTS: Ry. Hawkinson – 3; Penner – 2. REBOUNDS: Ry. Hawkinson – 6; Stone, Penner, Allen, KiLynn Starburg – 3; Ra. Hawkinson -2. STEALS: Stone, Starburg – 3; Alexus Swenson – 2. BLOCKED SHOTS: Ry. Hawkinson – 5; Penner, Stone – 1.