Fort Calhoun freshman basketball player Ansley Elofson was forced to the bench with her fourth foul during Tuesday's third period at Arlington High School.
When the forward returned to the floor during the Class C1-4 Subdistrict Tournament against Tekamah-Herman, though, she went off. The ninth-grader scored eight of her game-high 14 points in just a few minutes before fouling out of the 45-30 win.
It was fun while it lasted, senior Bria Bench confirmed.
“We knew we could come out even stronger because we knew we didn't play our best game last week,” the Pioneer said, referencing the Pioneers' 39-38 road win against the Tigers on Feb. 8. “We knew we wanted to take it to them especially with how that game was.”
How was it?
“It was rough,” Bench said. “And so was this one.”
Even so, FCHS improved to 16-7 in victory and moved along into the subdistrict final against the host Eagles. Coach Marty Plum's squad earned the spot with an 11-4 second period against Tekamah and a 23-16 second half.
The Pioneers, notably, started the third quarter with an 8-0 run, pushing their 22-14 halftime lead into a 16-point one in less than 2 minutes of game time.
“We knew we could get a run,” Bench said. “We just knew we had to play good defense so we could get that run.”
Sophomore Maelie Nelson bookended the scoring streak with buckets, while Bench scored another and Raeann Massey hit a pair of free throws.
The Tigers whittled the lead back down to 12 points by the end of the third period, but it jumped back out to as many as 21 points when Elofson got back out onto the floor. The freshman scored a putback for a 37-23 advantage before she finished a spin move in the lane with a scooping layup at 41-24. She added two free throws and another basket before picking up her fifth foul with 1:48 left on the clock.
Nelson and Massey added 10 points apiece for the Pioneers, too, while Bench had six. With the win, their squad extended its season and advanced into more postseason play.
“I'm just so grateful for this team and I'm so excited for this next game,” Bench said.
While FCHS' third game against Arlington of the season went final well after press time, results are available online at enterprisepub.com/sports and will appear in next Tuesday's Washington County Pilot-Tribune.
FCHS GIRLS HOOPS LINE SCORE
Tuesday
Fort Calhoun 45, Tekamah-Herman 30
TK (7-14) 10 4 8 8 — 30
FCHS (16-7) 11 11 12 11 — 45
Scoring: FCHS — Ansley Elofson 14, Maelie Nelson 10, Raeann Massey 10, Bria Bench 6, Ella Bouwman 4, Jovi Grenier 1.
TK — Preslee Hansen 15, Sammie Brodersen 9, Brinley Stahr 3, Emily Stansberry 2, Carly Freidel 1.
