Colby girls bow out of playoffs at Regis

The Colby girls basketball team had the difficult task of trying to defeat the Regis Ramblers not once, but twice, over the past week. The first game, a Cloverbelt- East/West crossover game, served a preview for the first round playoff matchup between the 11th seeded Hornets and the sixth seeded Ramblers. Unfortunately for Colby, neither game went in their favor, losing in similar finals of 76-43 and 73-49.

The knowledge gained by either team in their prior game seemed to make little difference in the final outcome of the first round playoff game between Colby and Regis. For the second straight game, the Hornets struggled to find an answer to Ashley Chilson and the Ramblers’ offense and the 76-43 defeat marked the end of Colby’s playoff hopes.

The Hornets had six players score in the first half but couldn’t keep pace with Regis on their home court. Headed by a 12-point first period effort by Chilson, the Ramblers ran out to a comfortable lead in the opening period. Colby’s first period offense was led by Dakota Hoeper, who had seven points in the opening eighteen minutes.

By the time the two teams were headed to the locker rooms, Regis had taken a 3819 lead.

Savana Thomsen scored 12 points for the Hornets in the second half as they tried to make a come back. Even with the additional firepower provided by Thomsen and the fact that Colby went a combined 10-for-12 from the free throw line in the second half, it was not enough to push the needle in the visitors’ favor.

A 12-point half from Regis’ Carly Borst matched Thomsen’s effort and with some additional support from Chilson and Emma Klink, the Ramblers were able to keep Colby at a distance.

Thomsen led the Hornets with 16 points and Hoeper totaled nine points by the end of the game. Angelique Hernandez added seven points, Hayden Willner had four and Kylie Orth finished with three. Alexis Vanderhoof and Hannah Trush both had two points.

73-49

In the first matchup between the Ramblers and the Hornets, an early burst from the visiting Regis squad sealed the deal. Riding a 43-18 advantage at halftime, the Ramblers were able to cruise to a 7349 victory over Colby in their Cloverbelt-East/West crossover game last Thursday.

Regis jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game, scoring on their first four possessions and forcing a timeout from Colby. The Hornets would get on the board after Savana Thomsen converted on two consecutive possessions, and while Regis’ offense was not nearly as efficient as they had started the game, they still had an answer for every basket for the home team.

Up 15-8, the Ramblers started to pull away after implementing a press-defense midway through the half. Forcing turnovers and making things uncomfortable for the Hornets on the offensive side of the ball, Regis outscored Colby 21-3. Leading the way for the Ramblers was Ashley Chilson, who had 15 points for the visitors in the first half.

By halftime, Colby found itself in a 25-point hole, down 43-19. Both offenses started the second period slowly, scoring four points each over the first five minutes of play. The pace picked up as the half continued and a three from Alexis Vanderhoof followed by two free-throws from Kylie Orth on the following possession cut the margin down to 58-37.

That would be all the smaller Regis’ lead would get, however, as the Ramblers went on to score 13 unanswered points to go up by more than 30 points and put the game all but out of reach. The Hornets continued to battle, putting up 11 points over the final four minutes, but the first half deficit was too much to overcome.

Kylie Orth put together a 20-point effort in the loss, hitting two three-point shots and going 6-for-9 from the freethrow line. Vanderhoof had two threes of her own while scoring nine points for the Hornets. Thomsen added eight points, Angelique Hernandez contributed seven and Hayden Willner and Dakota Hoeper both ended the game with two points each. Olivia Krause rounded out the stat sheet with one point.

The Hornets finished their season with a 5-9 conference record and a 5-18 record overall.

While they will be missing a key piece in current senior Hayden Willner next year, the Hornets will have the opportunity to return many of their starters and key bench players for the 2023-24 season.