Hornets get first Cloverbelt win

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Hornets went 1-1 over the past week, picking up a conference victory over Spencer before falling to Marathon on the road.

Marathon, 58-49

A slow offensive first half was too much for the Hornets to overcome in their nonconference game in Marathon on Monday. The Red Raiders used their 27-15 advantage in the opening period to cruise to a 58-49 win over Colby.

The Red Raiders slowly but steadily built out their lead over the opening period. While there were no major runs for the home team over the first 18 minutes, they were usually able to answer any Colby score with two of their own. Marathon owned an 18-9 advantage over the Hornets halfway through the first and that lead grew out to 12 by halftime as the visitors’ offense struggled to find consistency.

Shots started to fall for Colby in the second half. The Hornets opened with a 10-0 run to bring themselves back within two points. Harrison Schmitt started the streak with a mid-range jumper and Brynn Polivka followed the basket by connecting on a shot beyond the arc. Angelique Hernandez added two free throws before hitting a three of her own, pushing the Hornets within a single possession.

Marathon answered with a run of their own, scoring seven straight points to undo much of the work Colby had done to get themselves back into the contest. The two teams exchanged blows, with threes from Alexis Vanderhoof and Polivka bringing the Hornets back within one possession of the Red Raiders, but Marathon managed to keep them back each time. Colby could never quite close the gap between them and Marathon managed to hold on to the 58-49 victory.

Three Hornets scored in the double digits, with Hernandez recording 15 points, Vanderhoof adding 12 and Polivka ending the night with 10. Dakota Hoeper finished with eight points and Schmitt and Brezlyn Boyer each had two.

Spencer, 51-40

The Hornets secured their first Cloverbelt-East victory of the season by defeating the Spencer Rockets at home last Thursday. Colby jumped out to an early advantage and was able to hold on to it over the course of the game to win by double- digits, 51-40. While the Hornets were unable to hit from deep, going 0-for-9 from beyond the three point line, they still managed to shoot 30 percent from the field. On defense, they were able to hold the Rockets to a shooting percentage under 20, a key to win with their long-range game proving to be ineffective. Colby also took an advantage from the free throw line, making 15 of their 26 attempts compared to just seven of 18 attempts for Spencer.

A 17-4 opening for the home team was key to their victory over the Rockets. They scored the first 11 points of the contest, Alexis Vanderhoof putting up six points and Dakota Hoeper adding five more. The pair were the main source of offense for the Hornets in the win, scoring 37 of the team’s 51 points.

The two squads played relatively evenly for the rest of the period and Colby took a 24-14 lead into halftime. A few made shots early in the half briefly cut the Hornets’ lead down to single digits, but that would be all the closer the Rockets would get to trying to remove Colby’s hold on the contest.

In a flurry of scoring over the middle minutes of the half, the Hornets came out on top, outscoring Spencer 18-10 and taking a 50-32 lead late into the game. Spencer managed a small 8-1 run in the closing moments, but Colby still held a comfortable 11-point lead at the final buzzer.

Hoeper led the team with 19 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field. Vanderhoof added 18 points, five rebounds and four assists. Both had five steals.

Angelique Hernandez had four points and eight rebounds, Brynn Polvika added three points and Lily Brzezinski, Harrison Schmitt and Lucia Perez each had two points. Schmitt wrangled a team-high 12 rebounds and Brzezinski grabbed seven. Olivia Krause added one point.

FAST BREAK - Olivia Krause drives the ball down the court on a steal during Colby’s win over the Rockets.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD