Hornets best Athens, can’t rally past Dons
By Nathaniel Underwood
The Colby girls basketball team went 1-1 over the last week, defeating Athens in a non-conference game before losing to Columbus Catholic.
Columbus Catholic, 55-50
A late rally fell just short for the Hornets on Thursday night as they were defeated at home by Cloverbelt-East rival Columbus Catholic 55-50.
While Colby was able to sink 11 three-point shots, Columbus’ more efficient shooting inside the arc gave them a slight advantage when all was said and done. A strong finish to the first half for the Dons changed the outlook of what had been a closely contested game and while the Hornets were able to battle back late, they ultimately were not able to fully close the gap.
The two teams battled back and forth over the early minutes of the contest, neither able to take a significant advantage over the other. Threes from Audrey Fleischmann and Alia Hamus gave Colby some early advantages, but Columbus never allowed the Hornets to run away with the lead.
A 9-2 run for the home team, featuring a pair of threepointers from Hamus and another from Angelique Hernandez, looked like it might change that, but a flurry of offense from the Dons turned the game on its head. Over the final four minutes of the half, Columbus rattled off 15 straight points. The sudden burst of scoring more than doubled the Dons’ output over the first 14 minutes of the game and had Colby looking at a 29-19 deficit heading into halftime.
A three from Hernandez and a free throw courtesy of Hamus had the Hornets briefly back within two possessions to start the second period, but Columbus eventually stretched their lead out to 13 points over the next nine minutes.
However, Colby was not finished yet. Starting with a three from Jasmine Ertl, they would score on five of their next six possessions, getting back-to-back threes from Hernandez and a pair of baskets courtesy of Elizabeth Perez. The last make by Perez, where she took advantage of an open lane left by the Columbus defense in transition, pulled the Hornets back within four, cutting the Dons’ lead down to 47-43.
The run had Colby within striking distance for the final four minutes of the game and while baskets from Hernandez and Lilly Brzezinski had closed the gap down to three on two separate occasions, the Hornets could get no closer. Strong free throw shooting by Columbus down the stretch kept them ahead and the Hornets ultimately ran out of time to complete their comeback.
Hernandez led all scorers with 18 points. The senior also had six rebounds, three assists and 11 deflections on defense. Hamus put up 13 points while shooting 4-for-7 from three point range, Brzezinski finished with seven points and 10 rebounds, and Fleischmann had five points. Perez added four points and four assists and Ertl had three points.
Athens, 59-44
The Hornets bounced back from a slow start last Tues-
See HORNET HOMESTAND/ Page 13
PRESS BREAK - Audrey Fleischmann dribbles around her defender to escape the Dons full court press.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
ON TARGET - Alia Hamus hits one of her four three point shots against Columbus.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD Hornet homestand
Continued from page 11
day evening to grab their fourth win of the season, defeating the Athens Bluejays 59-44.
Colby connected on nine three-pointers and made nearly half of their two-point attempts while holding their opponents to a sub-30 percent field goal percentage. The Hornets also forced 34 turnovers from Athens, 19 of those coming via steals, which led to 20 points for the home team.
Athens leapt out to a 10-3 lead, but Colby did not allow the situation to get out of hand. After a quick timeout, Elizabeth Perez was able to get the Hornets back on track, turning a steal into points with a fast break basket. A three from Alia Hamus followed and while Athens managed to hold back the Hornets briefly, two more threes, one from Angelique Hernandez and another courtesy of Audrey Fleischmann saw Colby overtake the Bluejays 14-13.
A basket for Athens put them back ahead, but the threes continued to fall for the Hornets. Hamus knocked down a pair to score back-to-back baskets for Colby and Alexis Vanderhoof drove into the lane and scored to put the home team up 22-15. A small run for the Bluejays made it a one-possession game once more, but the Hornets outscored their opponents 12-6 over the final five minutes to head into halftime up 34-25.
Hernandez and Vanderhoof opened up the scoring in the second period and the Hornets never led by less than 11 points the rest of the way. Two more threes from Hamus helped them pull away further and eight points from Lilly Brzezinski scattered throughout the second half helped keep the Bluejays at bay.
It was a career night for Hamus, who had 16 points and shot 5-for-10 from three point range. She also had three assists, eight deflections and four steals in the win. Brzezinski added another 12 points, six rebounds and three steals.
Perez picked up eight points, Hernandez had seven points, three assists and four steals and Lucia Perez put up six points and collected a team-high nine rebounds. Vanderhoof and Fleischmann both had five points and the former had nine deflections and three steals.
