L-S Ladies reign victorious over Donegal on the hardwood
On January 5, the Lady Pioneers’ basketball team took on the Indians of Donegal. In quite a physical game, the Pioneers handled Donegal soundly with a 19-point advantage to win the game.
The Pioneers rushed into the first quarter ready to play. Junior Nevin Hoenninger had her best quarter of the game, with 10 points (average of 1.25 every minute), 4 rebounds, and a handful of blocked shots. Furthermore, senior Rachel Shortes and sophomore Laura Horner both had an outstanding quarter, scoring four and six points respectively. The Pioneer defense held steady, keeping Donegal to a mere eight points. The score after the first eight minutes of game play stood at 24-8, in favor of L-S.
In the second quarter, the Pioneers continued to perform, tallying nine points, to Donegal’s 10. Though outscored, they maintained quite an enormous lead, with points from sophomore "Hannahs" -- (Hanna) Garber and Adams -- each with two. Hoenninger added an additional four, giving her a total of 14 points in the first half alone. At halftime, the score was L-S 33, Donegal 18.
At the start of the second half, the Pioneers again outdid themselves, recording an additional 14 points, half of which came from Hoenninger. Nearly all of the Pioneer starters picked up a rebound or two in the third quarter, and as a unit, they played tremendous defense. Garber and freshman Emma Gochnauer combined to score the remainder of the Pioneers’ third quarter points (four and three respectively). The girls added to their lead, ending the quarter with 47 points, to Donegal’s 23.
The Lady Pioneers struggled in the 4th quarter, allowing Donegal to notch an 11-0 run, and nearly cut the lead to single digits. Hoenninger was pulled out of the game due to an apparent injury, and the basket was hard for the Pioneers to find until about two minutes left in the game. Down the stretch, though, both Gochnauer, and Horner knocked down some clutch free throws, securing a win. With less than a minute to play in the game, several junior varsity players were subbed in. This lot included freshman Hayley Phenegar, who ended the game with a layup. The final score was 53-34, L-S.
Overall, the Lady Pioneers played a fantastic game, with practically no hiccups. Senior captain Rachel Shortes summarized it saying, "We found a way to block out distractions and win the game." It may be conjectured that Shortes was referring to the pep band on site as a distraction, although they received many cheers from the sparse crowd. Despite any potential distractions, the Lady Pioneers soundly outplayed the Indians.
Edited: BP