Holiday week unkind to Lady Cats
November 30, 2021 at 10:16 p.m.
Holiday week unkind to Lady Cats
By Will Fehlinger-
Each team was playing its first conference game of the season and after 32 minutes of action, it was LHS earning the win with a 56-35 decision.
By the start of the third quarter, the visitors faced an uphill battle as the scoreboard already read 30-12. Junior Josie Rolfes scored on the Wildcats' first possession of the new half, but the Tigers continued to fill the basket with regularity and owned a 20-point advantage with just a period remaining.
Cambria Clawson assisted Chloe Meyer on a field goal and Kirsten Cross completed a traditional 3-point play to put the home team up by 21 at 35-14. From the paint, sophomore Nicole Mears found freshman Tiffany Billman for a 3-point jump shot and FC head coach Kyle Van Meter called a full timeout.
Thanks to a pair of interior hoops by Mears - the first from a Rolfes assist – the guests compiled a 7-1 run to make it 36-21 with 4:34 left in the third. Unfortunately for the Cats, this was the closest they would get to the Tigers in the second half.
Rolfes used a slide step for a deuce at 1:21 for FC's last basket of the stanza. Cross had earlier scored off a steal and Clawson spotted up for a triple off a Lizzie Redar pass. Molly Steuer's layup made it 44-23 just under the quarter's 10-second mark. Billman then earned back-to-back trips to the foul line, going 2-of-4 and cutting the deficit to 44-25 early in the fourth.
Lay-ins by Natalie Knigga and Cross preceded a Redar 3-pointer and a full Wildcat timeout at 4:44 of the game, Lawrenceburg with the first of its three 26-point advantages in the frame.
An 18-footer by Knigga made it 53-27, ahead of Billman's old-fashioned 3-point combo with three minutes to go. Nicole Houze and FC senior Jenna Bruns traded threes and senior Alex Gillman put in the final points at the stripe with 35 seconds on the clock.
Neither team could buy a point in the early going, Redar finally breaking the stalemate on a reverse layup assisted by Meyer. Guard Hannah White concluded an 8-0 run with a jumper in transition and a 3 from the wing. FC put itself on the board at 1:56 as junior Kiersten Schell found Bruns for a deuce; Van Meter called a 30-second timeout to set up pressure.
Billman scored four of the next six points but Cross ended the quarter by burying a kickout jumper, as well as an improbable last-second bomb from just inside the midcourt stripe.
Mears' first FG cut the LHS lead to 15-10 before the Tigers went on a 9-0 streak. Redar's assist to Cross was sandwiched between a Redar layup and 3-point jumper, then Clawson passed to Houze for two. Rolfes hit Bruns for a jump shot to end the LHS run. In the waning minutes of the half, Houze hit from deep and Redar finished the and-one opportunity.
Redar led all scorers with 16 and Cross added 14. Billman paced five Lady Cats with a dozen tallies.
Scoring
FC (4-5, 0-1) – Billman 12 (3), Mears 6, Gillman 2, Bruns 7 (3), Rolfes 8
L (5-3, 1-0) – Meyer 3, Cross 14 (3), White 6 (3), Clawson 3 (3), Redar 16 (2 3s), Steuer 2, Knigga 4, Houze 8 (2 3s)
At Talawanda (Oxford, Ohio) – Nov. 22
A talented Talawanda Brave squad led by Kylee Fears and Northeastern transfer Taylor Farris was too much for FC in last Monday's inter-state duel. The Oxford team outscored the Wildcats by double digits in the middle quarters and enjoyed a 57-34 win.
“We could not keep up with the firepower from these two very good basketball players,” Van Meter remarked. “We shot very poorly from the field while the Brave seemed to knock down everything.”
Mears led the away team with 13 points. Farris had a game-high 21, Fears scored 14 and Myah Keene added 10.
“This game was a great game for us because it allowed us to play a team that other teams in our conferences and sectional will not play,” the coach added. “It will prepare us for later in the season.”
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Each team was playing its first conference game of the season and after 32 minutes of action, it was LHS earning the win with a 56-35 decision.
By the start of the third quarter, the visitors faced an uphill battle as the scoreboard already read 30-12. Junior Josie Rolfes scored on the Wildcats' first possession of the new half, but the Tigers continued to fill the basket with regularity and owned a 20-point advantage with just a period remaining.
Cambria Clawson assisted Chloe Meyer on a field goal and Kirsten Cross completed a traditional 3-point play to put the home team up by 21 at 35-14. From the paint, sophomore Nicole Mears found freshman Tiffany Billman for a 3-point jump shot and FC head coach Kyle Van Meter called a full timeout.
Thanks to a pair of interior hoops by Mears - the first from a Rolfes assist – the guests compiled a 7-1 run to make it 36-21 with 4:34 left in the third. Unfortunately for the Cats, this was the closest they would get to the Tigers in the second half.
Rolfes used a slide step for a deuce at 1:21 for FC's last basket of the stanza. Cross had earlier scored off a steal and Clawson spotted up for a triple off a Lizzie Redar pass. Molly Steuer's layup made it 44-23 just under the quarter's 10-second mark. Billman then earned back-to-back trips to the foul line, going 2-of-4 and cutting the deficit to 44-25 early in the fourth.
Lay-ins by Natalie Knigga and Cross preceded a Redar 3-pointer and a full Wildcat timeout at 4:44 of the game, Lawrenceburg with the first of its three 26-point advantages in the frame.
An 18-footer by Knigga made it 53-27, ahead of Billman's old-fashioned 3-point combo with three minutes to go. Nicole Houze and FC senior Jenna Bruns traded threes and senior Alex Gillman put in the final points at the stripe with 35 seconds on the clock.
Neither team could buy a point in the early going, Redar finally breaking the stalemate on a reverse layup assisted by Meyer. Guard Hannah White concluded an 8-0 run with a jumper in transition and a 3 from the wing. FC put itself on the board at 1:56 as junior Kiersten Schell found Bruns for a deuce; Van Meter called a 30-second timeout to set up pressure.
Billman scored four of the next six points but Cross ended the quarter by burying a kickout jumper, as well as an improbable last-second bomb from just inside the midcourt stripe.
Mears' first FG cut the LHS lead to 15-10 before the Tigers went on a 9-0 streak. Redar's assist to Cross was sandwiched between a Redar layup and 3-point jumper, then Clawson passed to Houze for two. Rolfes hit Bruns for a jump shot to end the LHS run. In the waning minutes of the half, Houze hit from deep and Redar finished the and-one opportunity.
Redar led all scorers with 16 and Cross added 14. Billman paced five Lady Cats with a dozen tallies.
Scoring
FC (4-5, 0-1) – Billman 12 (3), Mears 6, Gillman 2, Bruns 7 (3), Rolfes 8
L (5-3, 1-0) – Meyer 3, Cross 14 (3), White 6 (3), Clawson 3 (3), Redar 16 (2 3s), Steuer 2, Knigga 4, Houze 8 (2 3s)
At Talawanda (Oxford, Ohio) – Nov. 22
A talented Talawanda Brave squad led by Kylee Fears and Northeastern transfer Taylor Farris was too much for FC in last Monday's inter-state duel. The Oxford team outscored the Wildcats by double digits in the middle quarters and enjoyed a 57-34 win.
“We could not keep up with the firepower from these two very good basketball players,” Van Meter remarked. “We shot very poorly from the field while the Brave seemed to knock down everything.”
Mears led the away team with 13 points. Farris had a game-high 21, Fears scored 14 and Myah Keene added 10.
“This game was a great game for us because it allowed us to play a team that other teams in our conferences and sectional will not play,” the coach added. “It will prepare us for later in the season.”
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