Indee girls blow by Pirates, Beavers

The Independence/Gilmanton girls basketball team got off to strong starts in two lopsided victories last week.

In both Monday’s 64-48 win over Cochrane-Fountain City and Tuesday’s 78-46 victory over Augusta, the Indees went on runs early in the game and took big leads into halftime.

The wins put the Indees at 12-4 overall and 8-4 in Dairyland Conference play, trailing only Eleva-Strum (12-0) in the Large Division. 

I/G is set to play at Osseo-Fairchild on Thursday before hosting Melrose-Mindoro on Saturday. This coming Monday, the team heads to Blair-Taylor in a game that was rescheduled from last Friday. 

I/G 64 C-FC 48

The Indees took control of the game before halftime and cruised to a lopsided win.

The teams were close in the first few minutes of play, but I/G turned up its defensive pressure and the Pirates had a difficult time setting up their offense. The Indees created several turnovers as part of a 16-0 run in which six different Indees scored baskets.

After a C-FC three-pointer broke the streak, the Indees scored seven straight points to take a 34-11 lead. I/G had a 41-13 advantage at halftime.

The Indees eased off the pressure in the second half, but the team maintained a comfortable lead throughout the rest of the game.

I/G forced 34 C-FC turnovers in the game and scored 33 points off those turnovers. Nora Schank had a team-high seven steals and five other players had two or more steals.

Rielynn Sheahan scored 20 points to lead the Indees and Arabelle Kniseley finished with 13.

I/G (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Kent 2/5-1/1-0-1-5 Kniseley 4/14/5/6-6-1-13 Sheahan 8/13-2/3-2-1-20 Schank 3/9-1/2-8-2-7 Ekern 0/2-0/0-1-4-0 Gruber 0/1-0/0-0-0-0 Dejno 3/7-2/3-3-3-8 C. Kampa 1/3-2/4-2-3-4 Sylla 1/3-3/4-7-2-5 Scow 1/2-0/0-7-3-2

I/G 78 Augusta 46

The Indees took control early, taking a 10-point lead about seven minutes into the game and never looking back.

I/G went ahead 18-8 when Sheahan took a steal in for a layup with 11 minutes to play in the first half. The lead was still 10 with 90 seconds left in the first half, but Kniseley and Sheahan made three-pointers and Sheahan added a free throw to give the Indees a 42-25 halftime lead. 

The Indees broke the game open early in the second half, outscoring the Beavers 22-8 in the first eight minutes to take a 64-33 lead. 

I/G shot 49 percent from the field in the game as four players scored more than 10 points. Both Kniseley and Sheahan put up 16 points while Hadley Sylla finished with 14 and Shauna Dejno had 10.

I/G (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Kent 2/3-0/0-4-0-6 Kniseley 6/8-2/2-1-1-16 Sheahan 6/10-2/4-1-3-16 Schank 3/6-2/3-4-3-8 Ekern 1/4-0/2-2-0-2 Gruber 1/3-0/0-0-0-2 Dejno 5/6-0/0-2-1-10 C. Kampa 1/6-0/0-4-1-2 Sylla 4/10-6/8-6-5-14 Scow 1/5-0/0-4-1-2