The shorthanded Class C1 No. 9 Fort Calhoun girls basketball team snapped its three-game losing streak Saturday with a 44-40 home win.
Still down two starters after their roster was ravaged by illness earlier in the week, the Pioneers' Jovi Grenier scored the go-ahead bucket with 25 seconds left in the game against Wisner-Pilger (4-7 overall). The win moved FCHS' record to 9-3 this season.
Grenier scored in the post after a Gator's free throw with 57.1 seconds left tied the game at 40-all. The returning Ansley Elofson, who missed Thursday's game at Logan View, assisted on the play, setting up her teammate for the basket.
Then, with 3.9 seconds left, the Pioneers inbounded the ball deep down court after a defensive stop. Freshman Dehlia Hallberg chased it down and scored the open layup, putting an exclamation point on the victory.
Elofson led Calhoun with 15 points, while Grenier scored 14, including six during the final quarter. Ari Nelson — who also missed Thursday's game — added five fourth-period points, too, finishing with seven altogether.
Emerson Bellar led Wisner with a game-high 16 points in defeat.
The Pioneers, however, next play 6 p.m. today against Louisville. The game comes on Fort Calhoun's Parents Night.
Pioneers fall to Logan View
Down three starters due to illness, Fort Calhoun lost Thursday at Logan View, 44-38.
It was the second-straight game the Pioneers played sick, but coach Eric Jones wasn't about making excuses afterward — even if several players were playing some of their first meaningful varsity minutes against the Raiders.
“It's a program from top to bottom,” the coach said. “Nothing is makeshift. Nothing was random. It was, 'Who's up next?'”
FCHS wound up playing 10 different players during the close ballgame.
“There's no excuses,” Jones said. “We made no excuses tonight.”
Even 11-11 after one period, Logan View/Scribner-Snyder went into halftime with a 24-22 lead. The Pioneers' Raeann Massey then closed out the third period with a game-tying drive to the basket at 33-33.
From there, though, the Raiders got the job done, holding Jones' squad to just five fourth-quarter points. They improved to 6-4, while Calhoun dropped its third-straight game.
Even in defeat, though, the Pioneers' head coach said he was proud of the girls who stepped up.
“We just didn't get enough, especially points-wise, from who we kind of needed to,” Jones said. “But then we got some points from freshmen like Anna McMahon, putting in 13.”
The ninth-grader bench player knocked down two 3-pointers and shot 3-for-4 from the foul line, while Hallberg scored 11 points. Massey added eight points in defeat as well.
“Things just aren't going our way yet,” Jones explained. “We've got to earn that luck.”
FCHS BASKETBALL LINE SCORES
Saturday
No. 9 Fort Calhoun 44, Wisner-Pilger 40
W-P (4-7) 16 4 8 12 — 40
FCHS (9-3) 16 4 8 16 — 44
Scoring: FCHS — Ansley Elofson 15, Jovi Grenier 14, Ari Nelson 7, Dehlia Hallberg 4, Anna McMahon 3, Maelie Nelson 1.
W-P — Emerson Bellar 16, Jesa Montgomery 10, Riley Ross 5, Haley Kneifl 4, Ramsey Arduser 3, Chesney Ruskamp 2.
Thursday
Logan View/Scribner-Snyder 44, No. 9 Fort Calhoun 38
FCHS (8-3) 11 11 11 5 — 38
LVSS (6-4) 11 13 9 11 — 44
Scoring: FCHS — McMahon 13, Hallberg 11, Raeann Massey 8, Isabel Wray 3, Kamie Nelson 2, Maelie Nelson 1.
LVSS — Jayde Kreifels 16, Neveah Vacha 14, Keegan Francis 4, Callie Stockamp 4, Miley Silva 4, Marah Fischer 1.
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