On Monday, December 11, the Lady Eagles basketball team traveled north to Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran. The Lancers took a lead, pulling ahead 16-2 early in the first half. Both the Eagles and Lancers began in a man-to-man defense. With 11 minutes in the first half, the Eagles picked up the Lancers in a full-court press, creating a run for Alma-Pepin. Immanuel closed out the first half on top, 23-21. The second half was a back-and-forth battle. With five minutes left in the second, Alma-Pepin started to pull away with an eight point lead. With a minute and 30 seconds left, the Lancers were only down by five points. The Eagles felt the intense pressure during the game as the turnovers gave the Lancers plenty of time to score. Lancers senior, Hannah Goodmen knew the high stakes of the game. Goodmen knocked down two three-point shots to put the Lancers up by two with 30 seconds left. With plenty of time on the clock, junior Allidah Luff quickly hustled up the court, wide open, and nailed the three with only ten seconds left, putting them up by two points. The Eagles held a tight defense and won the game, 55-53.
Friday, December 15, the Lady Eagles were back in their home gym for another conference matchup. The Eagles faced the Lady Hornets of Alma Center Lincoln. The Hornets started strong going on an 11-2 run against the Eagles. Hornet’s sophomore, Ava Cummings was unstoppable; Ava owned all of the 11 points the Hornets had on the scoreboard. Both teams started in a zone defense; the Hornets, however, would switch back and forth between a zone and a man-to-man. Junior, Allidah Luff kept the Eagles in the game with a total of 16 points. At the end of the first half, Alma-Pepin was trailing 24-22. The second half was a back-and-forth battle. Even until the end of the game, both teams always had a response. Alma-Pepin was ahead 38-37 with 20 seconds left. Hornets, Ava Cummings was attacking the basket with five seconds left and found her teammate, Kaylee Carrillo down low for the open right-handed layup. Carrillo put the Hornets up 39-38 with two seconds left on the clock. The Eagles couldn’t finish a last-minute shot and fell just short of the Hornets, 39-38.
Written by: Tori Creighton