Wildcats win one out of three
Samantha Aguilar of Blair-Taylor made a move toward the basket during their game against Melrose-Mindoro last week. (Times photograph by Andrew Dannehy)
The Blair-Taylor girls basketball team was close in a couple of losses and managed one win last week.
The Wildcats were competitive against Melrose-Mindoro last week Tuesday, but the Mustangs knocked down shots down the stretch to escape with a 63-60 win. On Friday, the Wildcats were able to control the paint in a 52-36 win over Augusta. The team wasn’t able to recover from a slow start in a 62-53 loss to De Soto on Saturday.
B-T (2-3, 1-1) doesn’t have any games scheduled for this week and won’t play again until this coming Tuesday when it heads to Whitehall. They’ll play at Eleva-Strum next Friday.
Mel-Min 63 B -T 60
A breakout game from sophomore Samantha Aguilar wasn’t enough as the Wildcats fell short.
The Mustangs looked to be on the verge of pulling away with a four-point lead and Andrea Waldera heading to the bench with her fourth foul for B-T. However, Aguilar scored two straight baskets, one while being fouled then connected on the ensuing free throw to keep the Wildcats in the game.
Mel-Min’s Claire Becker got hot late, however. The guard knocked down four three pointers in the second half to keep Mel-Min ahead.
Aguilar was aggressive, making five-of-six free throws and hit a three pointer. B-T also got six late points from Waldera and two three pointers from Elissa Smetana as the teams went back and forth.
The Mustangs had too much, however. Anna Radcliffe made two three pointers late and connected on four straight free throws. Cooper Zeman also knocked down an outside shot as they held on for a three-point win.
Radcliffe led Mel-Min with 23 points, two more than Becker.
Aguilar finished with a game-high 27 -points as she shot 12-for-14 from the free-throw line. Smetana and Waldera both scored 12 for B-T while Andi Beck chipped in with six, Frankie Zentgraf scored two and Maddie Frederixon had one point.
B-T 52 Augusta 36
The Wildcats got off to a strong start then finished for the win.
B-T was able to get the ball inside to Waldera, While Smetana and Aguilar also helped control the paint. The Wildcats had a 25-16 advantage at halftime and held on for the win.
Waldera scored 14 points, while Aguilar added 13 and pulled down 14 rebounds and Smetana finished with 10.
B-T (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Walters 1/3-0/0-0-0-3 Frederixon 0/5-0/1-3-1-0 Beck 2/9-3/4-1-3-7 Lejcher 2/3-0/0-4-2-4 Waldera 6/11-2/4-5-1-14 Smetana 4/13-1/3-5-2-10 Aguilar 4/14-4/6-14-2-13 Woodard 0/2-0/0-1-0-0
De Soto 62 B-T 53
The Wildcats had a tough time get going and offensively and, once they did, it was too late.
B-T had no answer for De Soto’s Kylee Venner as the Pirates took a 30-17 lead into halftime. The Wildcats more than matched the offensive attack of the Pirates in the second half, but the hole was too large.
Aguilar led B-T with 16 points while Waldera scored 15 and Beck finished with 12.
B-T (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Walters 0/0-0/0-0-1-0 Frederixon 0/3-0/0-0-5-0 Beck 3/9-6/12-3-3-12 Lejcher 0/2-1/2-1-4-1 Waldera 7/11-1/2-7-2-15 Smetana 2/6-2/8-9-3-8 Aguilar 6/17-1/4-7-4-16 Zentgraf 0/3-1/3-2-1-1
