Indees falter late in loss to Cardinals, pull away from Beavers

The girls basketball season began with a premier matchup between two contenders in the Dairyland Conference Large Division, but Independence/Gilmanton came up just short.

The Indees had the lead late, but Eleva-Strum scored nine straight points to close Tuesday’s game with a 46-40 win. I/G evened its record with a 63-35 win over Augusta on Friday. 

I/G had another tough game on Tuesday of this week when the team hosted Blair-Taylor in Independence. Next Tuesday it’ll host Osseo-Fairchild before heading to Melrose-Mindoro next Friday. 

E-S 46 I/G 40

The Indees couldn’t score in the last 90 seconds of the game as E-S closed with a 9-0 run for the win.

I/G’s last basket was a three-pointer by Rielynn Sheahan that gave the team a 40-37 lead with 1:30 remaining on the clock. The Cardinals responded about 20 seconds later when Aliza Kulig knocked down a three to tie the game.

The next I/G possession ended in a turnover as Maddea Brown got a steal and pushed the ball up to Avery Glenz. Glenz drove to the basket and finished with a basket while being fouled. The ensuing free throw gave E-S a 43-40 lead with 53 seconds remaining.

The Indees still had a chance to win or tie the game. I/G’s Arabelle Kniseley missed a free throw on the team’s next possession, but Makiyah Scow kept it alive by getting the rebound. The Indees got the ball to Shauna Dejno, but she was called for a traveling violation while being locked up by two E-S defenders.

Avaya Zwiefelhofer made it a two-possession game with 26 seconds left when she canned two free throws. After a missed three by Hannah Ekern, Zwiefelhofer made another from the charity stripe to put her team up by six. I/G’s last possession ended with another turnover.

The Indees closed the first half with a 10-3 run to take a 17-14 lead into the intermission. The teams were close throughout the second half, and the game was tied at 33, 35, 37 and 40. 

Both teams struggled offensively as I/G shot 21.9 percent from the field and E-S finished at 30 percent. 

Kniseley led the Indees with 14 points and added nine rebounds. Dejno scored 12 points and pulled in 13 boards. Glenz scored 17 to lead the Cardinals.

I/G (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Kent 0/0-0/0-2-2-0 Kniseley 6/18-1/3-9-2-14 Sheahan 2/11-0/0-3-2-5 Schank 1/10-0/0-8-1-2 S. Kampa 0/1-0/0- 1-0-0 Ekern 0/5-1/2-2-1-1 Dejno 4/13-4/4-13-4-12 C. Kampa 0/3-2/2-1-1-2 Sylla 1/1-0/0-3-4-2 Scow 0/2-2/2-5-3-2

E-S (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Glenz 6/12-4/5-9-1-17 Brown 2/9-0/2-1-0-6 Spangberg 0/3-1/2-4-5-1 Zwiefelhofer 3/6-5/8-5-1-11 Bauer 2/2-1/2-4-2-5 Kulig 2/12-0/0-5-5-6 Christ 0/5-0/0-3-1-0 Gunderson 0/1-0/0-1-0-0

I/G 63 Augusta 35

The Indees held the Beavers to just nine points in the second half.

I/G had a 10-point lead at halftime, then came out of the break with an 8-0 run. A three-point play — a basket and a free throw — by Nora Schank grew I/G’s lead to 21 with 12 minutes remaining. The Beavers managed just six points the rest of the game.

It was a balanced offensive attack for I/G as Kniseley led the team with 13 points, two more than Sheahan. Seven different I/G players scored at least five points as the team shot 39% from the field and forced 41 turnovers. 

Augusta was led by Stella Zank’s 15 points.

I/G (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Kent 0/2-0/0-2-4-0 Kniseley 6/12-1/2-2-0-13 Sheahan 3/8-5/9-3-3-11 Schank 3/8-2/7-6-2-8 S. Kampa 0/2-0/0-0-2-0 Ekern 3/5-0/0-1-3-7 Dejno 1/4-0/0-4-3-2 C. Kampa 3/7-3/4-2-2-9 Sylla 3/8-2/3-3-3-8 Scow 2/5-0/0-3-2-5