The second-seeded Arlington girls basketball team set out to defend its home court Monday during the first round of the Nebraska Capitol Conference (NCC) Tournament.
“We're having a pretty good season so far, so everyone wants to come in our house and they want to come and beat us,” sophomore Macy Wolf said.
After a slow start, the Eagles (14-2 overall) easily avoided an upset against seventh-seeded Louisville (4-13), 65-30. The victory allowed for a second tourney home game Thursday against No. 3 Fort Calhoun before Saturday's third- and first-place games on the Pioneers' home floor.
The winner of Thursday's all-Washington County matchup will play 4:30 p.m. Saturday for a NCC title, while the loser will compete 1 p.m. Saturday for third.
AHS initially trailed Louisville on Monday, 7-0, but responded with a 24-3 run to easily retake the lead and hold onto it. Junior Britt Nielsen started the run with a pair of free throws at the 5:54 mark of the first quarter before Austyn Flesner scored on an on-target pass from point guard Emme Timm.
Wolf made a 3-pointer, Taylor Arp hit free throws, and Hailey O'Daniel turned a Lion turnover into points as the Eagles took an 11-10 edge through one period.
“Coming out not as strong as we wanted to meant we needed to come out stronger in the second, third and fourth quarters,” Wolf said. “We had to hit big shots and we had to rebound.”
Flesner opened the second quarter with another basket before Timm and Wolf knocked down 3s as Arlington was off to the races. Wolf finished the game with a team-high 18 points, while Timm had 14 and Nielsen notched nine.
Altogether, nine Eagles — the entire active roster — scored during the first-round victory. Results from the rest of AHS' NCC Tournament run will appear in next week's Washington County Pilot-Tribune and Arlington Citizen editions.
AHS GIRLS HOOPS LINE SCORE
Tuesday
Arlington 65, Louisville 30
LHS (4-13) 10 6 11 3 — 30
AHS (14-2) 11 20 19 15 — 65
Scoring: AHS — Macy Wolf 18, Emme Timm 14, Britt Nielsen 9, Austyn Flesner 8, Taylor Arp 6, Hailey O'Daniel 4, Gracen Adams 2, Valeria Carvajal 2, Erika Cruikshank 2.
LHS — Allie Hiatt 8, Riley Bennett 7, Kylie Gaston 6, Lilly Bax 3, Taylor Staben 3, Carly Hawn 3.
