The Fort Calhoun girls basketball team claimed its 11th win of the season Monday at Omaha Brownell-Talbot, 62-26.
The Pioneers — who earned their 12th Tuesday — did get off to a slow start, though.
“It's a Monday. We didn't have school,” sophomore guard Raeann Massey said. “A lot of people probably slept until noon.”
FCHS coach Eric Jones theorized his team may have tensed up against the Raiders knowing he once coached the boys basketball team at the Omaha school and didn't want to let him down.
“They just kind of needed some good things to happen for them to settle in a little bit,” he said.
Long-range makes from behind the 3-point line turned the tide. Maelie Nelson first hit one during the first period before the Pioneers knocked down three-straight during the start of the second. The baskets by post players Jovi Grenier and Isabel Wray — and Massey — turned a 13-9 deficit into a an 18-13 lead.
“Once we started making buckets and stuff, our energy, the bench energy and the crowd started going,” Massey said. “We realized we needed to pick it up.”
Fort Calhoun didn't let off of the gas from there, outscoring Brownell-Talbot 44-13 the rest of the way. Massey led all scorers, finishing with 21 points, including 12 after halftime.
“She got aggressive, finally,” Jones said. “We have just been working non-stop about finishing off of two feet and two hands, and it's finally starting to pay off.”
The sophomore guard was the most effective of the Pioneers in doing so.
“She did a nice job,” her coach added.
Additionally, Grenier and Ansley Elofson scored nine points apiece for FCHS. Nelson scored eight, too, while Ella Bouwman had five in the win.
The Raiders' Abbi Gibbs scored the vast majority of the home squad's points in defeat, finishing with 19. Brownell-Talbot dropped to 8-8 overall with the loss.
FCHS edges Concordia
A chaotic, back-and-forth fourth period ended in Fort Calhoun's favor Tuesday at Omaha Concordia.
The Pioneers improved to 12-3 with the 46-42 victory. They fell behind 37-34 at the start of the final period and took several minutes of game time to overcome the deficit on Elofson's floater in the lane.
The Mustangs regained a 39-38 lead, however, knocking down a pair of free throws with just 1:16 left. Massey answered with a quick-fire 3-pointer just seconds later, though, putting her team back out front.
As it turned out, the game was far from over.
Concordia again tied the score at 42-all only to send Massey to the foul line with 16.7 seconds left. She made the freebies for the lead before Ari Nelson chased down a loose inbound and capped the win with a layup as the clock ran out.
Elofson led Fort Calhoun with 15 points in the win, while Massey scored 12 and Bouwman finished with eight.
Grace Samuelson led the Mustangs with nine points in defeat.
The Pioneers next play 6 p.m. Tuesday against Syracuse. The home game is a first round Nebraska Capitol Conference Tournament matchup.
FCHS BASKETBALL LINE SCORES
Tuesday
Fort Calhoun 46, Omaha Concordia 42
FCHS (12-3) 12 17 5 12 — 46
OC (5-8) 13 12 7 10 — 42
Scoring: FCHS — Ansley Elofson 15, Raeann Massey 12, Ella Bouwman 8, Maelie Nelson 5, Ari Nelson 2, Dehlia Hallberg 2, Jovi Grenier 2.
OC — Grace Samuelson 9, Grace Hahn 8, Eliza Secrest 8, Ava Lichtenberger 7, Charis Hughes 5, Adleigh Beck 2, Adelynn Suhr 2, Emersyn Spurgeon 1.
Monday
Fort Calhoun 62, Omaha Brownell-Talbot 26
FCHS (11-3) 9 17 20 16 — 62
OBT (8-8) 13 2 7 4 — 26
Scoring: FCHS — Massey 21, Grenier 9, Elofson 9, Maelie Nelson 8, Bouwman 5, Aimee Boyd 3, Isabel Wray 3, Ari Nelson 2, Kaylee Taylor 2.
OBT — Abbi Gibbs 19, Ana Gibbs 2, Corbett Lanum 2, Avery Nichols 2, Riley Mann 1.
