Basketball Results: Jan. 9
ST. FRANCIS WOMEN 64, GRACE 62
Grace’s women’s basketball team almost completed a massive comeback in the second half, losing to St. Francis 64-62 on Wednesday.
The Lady Lancers (10-9, 4-3 Crossroads League) trailed by as many as 13 late in the third quarter but made a valiant rally. The Cougars (12-7, 4-3 CL) managed to avoid overtime, however, as Grace’s potential game-tying shot in the final seconds misfired.
Grace struggled with its shot by making 38 percent for the game compared to 47 percent for USF.
The first half was fast-paced, packed with back-and-forth action. The first quarter alone saw 43 points scored in the 10-minute session.
The Cougars jumped out to a quick lead in the first quarter. USF buried a trio of 3-pointers in the quarter to claim a 17-7 advantage.
Grace still trailed 21-10 but made a furious run to end the period. The Lady Lancers exploded on a 10-2 run over the final 2:50 thanks to four points by Brooke Sugg and a last-second jumper from Pam Miller.
The second quarter was much milder in comparison. Grace’s offense sputtered to the tune of seven points, three of which came from Brooke Treadway.
The Lady Lancers went into halftime behind 36-27. Grace shot 34 percent from the floor, including 13 percent on 3-pointers (1-of-8). Grace also committed nine turnovers in the half.
USF started the second half as the better team and held a double-digit lead for much of the third quarter. With 1:38 to play in the third, the Cougars owned a 50-37 lead.
In the final minute of the third, however, Sugg brought Grace back. Sugg converted a tough and-1 and later beat the buzzer with a banked floater high off the glass. Her five quick points cut USF’s lead down to 51-42 entering the last stanza.
Sugg continued her hot shooting to start the fourth. She made another floater on the first possession. After a USF turnover, she buried a deep triple to cut the deficit down to four with nine minutes to play.
Three times over the final minute, Grace was within one possession of USF. But each time the Cougars had an answer.
With 2:26 remaining, Kyannah Stull buried a corner 3-pointer to make the score 61-58. But the Cougars responded quickly with a basket on the next possession.
With less than a minute on the clock, freshman Brielle Wilson hit another 3-pointer in front of Grace’s bench to cut USF’s lead down to 64-62 to set up a nervy final two plays.
USF had a chance to ice the game but misfired on a 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining. Grace eyed a chance to send the game to overtime, but Sugg’s last-second floater was off the mark.
Sugg had a team-high 18 points to go along with three assists, and Drake added 10 points and four rebounds.
Wilson tallied 10 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, and Treadway had 8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Warble and Stull each scored six.
The Lady Lancers will hit the road to end the week, playing at No. 8 Marian on Saturday at 1 p.m.
ST. FRANCIS MEN 95, GRACE 91
Offense was the name of the game on Wednesday between Grace’s men’s basketball team and St. Francis.
Unfortunately for the Lancers (11-8, 1-6 Crossroads League), USF squeezed out four more points of offense in a 95-91 win at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
Both teams were electric on offense. Each team shot well over 50 percent, and both sides made at least half of their 3-pointers.
Charlie Warner enjoyed a career game in defeat, scoring a career-best 35 points with four assists. He shot 14-of-19 overall and was unstoppable from deep by hitting 6-of-7 on 3-pointers.
Grace shot 59 percent from the floor, including 72 percent on 3-pointers (13-of-18). The Cougars (11-8, 4-3 CL) shot 55 percent and 50 percent on 3-pointers.
In the first half, Grace opened the game with a 12-9 after Warner scored four points early. But the Cougars erupted over the next two minutes, going on a 13-2 run to seize an eight-point cushion.
USF held onto its lead for the rest of the half, although Grace’s hot shooting kept the Lancers well within striking distance.
Grace went into halftime behind 47-42. Warner had 14 points, and Logan Godfrey scored 10 points.
Warner got his offense started early in the second half, racking up six points over the first 2:13 with a 3-pointer and an and-1. Warner’s triple cut USF’s edge down to 51-50.
Grace suffered a major blow early in the second half, however. Godfrey was whistled for three fouls in less than the span of a minute, fouling out the all-conference forward with 14 minutes remaining.
The Cougars responded with a spurt, opening up a 65-55 lead. But Grace refused to wilt.
Haden Deaton and Warner picked up the scoring slack, combining for 17 points over the next five minutes to propel Grace ahead. Warner had back-to-back 3-pointers during the run, and Deaton was dangerous on the drive and with his jumper.
Deaton’s drive tied the score 72-72 with 9:40 left, and Martin Schiele and Deaton hit back-to-back jumpers to give the Lancers a 76-72 lead with 8:03 remaining.
The Lancers hit a dry spell after their five-minute outburst, however. Grace went almost three minutes before scoring again until Jaret Sons gave the team a boost.
Sons scored seven straight points for the Lancers; all three baskets that Sons made put Grace ahead, including his last one with 2:29 remaining for an 83-82 lead.
But the Cougars’ offense proved too much for Grace down the stretch. USF hit two key shots while Grace came up empty, and the Lancers were forced to foul.
Grace still battled until the final seconds. Triples in the final 15 seconds by Warner and Braxton Linville kept Grace within one possession of the lead, but USF secured the win by hitting six free throws in the last minute.
Deaton finished with 13 points, 5 assists and 5 boards while playing all 40 minutes, and Warner also did not sit after scoring 35 points.
Schiele provided a boost off the bench with 11 points, drilling 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, and Godfrey was Grace’s fourth player in double digits with 10 points, 5 assists, 5 boards and 1 block.
Sons and Linville each scored nine points with three boards, and Linville added three assists.
The Lancers are away on Saturday, playing at No. 13 Marian at 3 p.m.
WARSAW GIRLS 37, ELKHART MEMORIAL 26
In a low-scoring affair in Elkhart, Warsaw kept its hopes alive in the Northern Lakes Conference race.
With just a 23-22 lead after three quarters played, Warsaw outscored Memorial by 10 in the fourth to get out of Elkhart alive.
Both teams had trouble shooting the ball, the Chargers just 10-39 from the floor (26 percent) while the Tigers weren’t much better at 13-47 (28 percent), specifically from three-point range, hitting just 3-25 from deep. The two bright spots for Warsaw shooting the ball were its saving grace, as Abby Sanner was 6-10 from the floor and paced the team with 15 points and Brielle Harrison was 4-6 from the floor and had 10 points. The two also combined for 15 rebounds, three steals and two assists, and Sanner added three blocks.
Maddie Ryman had a tough night shooting the ball, going just 2-14 from the floor, but managed nine points and added five assists, five steals and two rebounds to make up some slack. Kensie Ryman added four offensive rebounds and four steals.
De’Mour Watson led Memorial with eight points but was 3-13 from the floor in doing so, and the Tigers held Madison Axsom and Mya Reeves, who combine to score over 15 points a night for Memorial, to just six total points.
Warsaw played just seven in the JV game, but all were efficient in a 50-12 win over the Chargers. Warsaw led just 10-4 after the first quarter, but shut out Memorial in the second quarter and outscored the hosts 20-6 out of the lockerroom to run away with the game. Adin Um led Warsaw with 13 points and Cora West added 12 points, eight rebounds and four steals. The Tigers had 23 steals and forced Memorial into 33 turnovers overall.
Warsaw moves to 12-6 overall and 3-1 in the NLC, tied with NorthWood a half game behind Northridge at the top of the conference standings. Memorial falls to 5-12 overall and 0-4 in conference play.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 8TH GRADE GIRLS 44, WHITKO 19
Kaydence Mellott had the hot hand for Valley in the victory, scoring 21 points. Rily Holloway added eight points and Molly Moriarty was right behind with six points.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 7TH GRADE GIRLS 31, WHITKO 19
Balanced scoring helped Valley pull out the win, led by Ava Smith’s 10 points. Sidney Nelson had nine points, Macy Peterson had eight points and Chesnee Miller had four points.