After a productive staycation at the Valley City Winter Shootout, both the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams were looking to keep their momentum rolling on Tuesday. Unfortunately, both would watch late leads slip away due to an opponent’s lights-out shooting in the final quarter.

The Hi-Liner girls’ matchup with the Carrington Cardinals got off to a rocky start as the Cardinals splashed their first three three-point shots to take an early 9-0 lead. The Hi-Liners, though, would battle back to force a 31-31 standstill going into halftime as Tesa Olson led the way with 14pts at the break. The third would see the Hi-Liners grind out a four-point advantage behind a solid team effort, taking a 50-46 lead into the final quarter. The last quarter, however, would be an endless barrage of threes from Carrington as Edyn Hoornaert splashed in three triples to help steal a 72-60 win away in the final frame.

The Hi-Liner boys were trying to prove that rigid offensive consistency and defense were the keys to success as they put up 15 points in both the first and second quarters while holding their opponents to single digits in the second to take a 30-23 lead into the half. It appeared early on as if the Hi-Liners would survive the Broncos’ offensive flurry, as both teams scored 17 points in the third frame, as the Hi-Liners would take a seven-point lead into the fourth. However, the impressive performances of Jack Dieterle and Talon Larson would not be enough to sustain the Valley City lead, as Lisbon’s Jayden Bittner and Lincoln Adair erupted to lead a 26pt charge in the final frame to snatch a 66-64 win away from Valley City.

The next varsity outing for the boys will be January 16th at home against Oak Grove, while the girls will be in action at home on Thursday against Lisbon.

 

Ivy Real Estate Group Players of the Game: Tesa Olson and Jack Dieterle