Broncos Cruise to 79-52 Win over Warriors
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Midland (1-15, 1-9) | 15 | 11 | 10 | 16 | 52 |
|
Hastings (11-5, 6-4) | 22 | 21 | 14 | 22 | 79 |
(Hastings, NE) – The women's basketball team responded well to Saturday's loss by defeating Midland on Wednesday, 79-52, using eight first half threes to build a double-digit halftime lead.
Midland scored first on a three, but that would be their only lead of the day. Juniors Macy Bryant and Mariyah Avila each knocked down threes to go up 6-3, then after a Warrior basket, sophomore Rachel Goodon continued her excellent start to the second semester by finishing at the rim and drawing the foul to make it 9-5 after her free throw.
Freshman McKenna Yates responded to a Warrior three-pointer with one of her own and senior Kiernan Paulk drilled a three with 3:10 left in the opening quarter to go up 15-10. Yates later knocked down the fifth three of the quarter for Hastings, who ended the quarter with a 22-15 advantage.
The Warriors again opened the second quarter with a basket, but sophomore Tathis Arredondo stopped the momentum with a three-pointer. Leading 25-20, Hastings went on a 10-2 run to force a Midland timeout with 3:48 left in the half. Freshman Jentri Marx started the run on a second-chance basket, followed by a two from Avila. Yates later drilled her third three of the half and Bose answered a Midland bucket with a three go up 35-22.
The lead was briefly cut to 11 by Midland, but Hastings scored the final four points of the half to take a 43-26 lead. Hastings was 8-20 from three in the first half and shot 42 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, while holding Midland to 38 percent shooting and forcing 11 turnovers.
Hastings scored the first seven points of the half with Avila hitting a three on the opening possession of the half and Bryant and Goodon each scoring inside the arc to go up 50-26. With a 52-30 lead, Arredondo found Paulk for a basket, then senior Alyssa Baker knocked down a three after Midland three-pointer to put Hastings up 57-33 with 3:25 left in the third. Midland scored the final three points of the quarter as the Broncos clung to a 21-point lead.
Midland started the fourth quarter strong with the first five points. Bryant scored inside on back-to-back possessions to push the lead back to 20. The Warriors would get within 17 on a few occasions the rest of the way, but could not get any closer. Bryant had two more baskets in the quarter to give her eight in the fourth, leading to the 79-52 win.
Bryant finished with 15 points, three rebounds, and two steals. Goodon had 15 points and finished one rebound shy of her fourth-straight double double, ending with nine rebounds. Avila was the other Bronco in double-figures with 10 points, along with five rebounds, and four assists. Arredondo led the Broncos in assists with six and also tallied five points and two steals.
Hastings will travel to Mitchell, SD on Saturday, Jan. 11 to take on #17 Dakota Wesleyan at 2pm.
