The Fort Calhoun High School girls basketball team closed out its season Thursday at home during the Class C1-3 Subdistrict Tournament.
Malcolm won the finals matchup with the Pioneers, 46-35, ending the home squad's postseason run at 1-1 and its season at 16-9 overall.
“These seniors made such a huge sacrifice,” FCHS coach Eric Jones stated when asked what he'll miss about the 2024-25 team. “Didn’t play hardly at all, but showed up every day with a great attitude and made us better — allowed younger girls to get better and take their lumps. I’ll miss their presence.”
The first-year head coach can already see a big season No. 2, however.
“But we aren’t hanging our heads long,” he said. “We have a lot coming back, and we’re gonna have a great offseason and be right back here next year.”
The Clippers (15-10 overall), though, jumped out to a 14-6 lead through one period Thursday with Payton Dolliver scoring 10 of those points. The Malcolm standout finished with the game-high total, 24.
“(She) was the difference,” Jones said. “She’s unstoppable when she wants to get where she wants to go.”
The Clippers led Calhoun 28-13 at halftime and 41-22 going into the fourth quarter before the Pioneers won the final 8 minutes, 13-5.
“Everyone played well,” Jones said. “It was my fault I didn’t have us in 1-3-1 (zone defense) sooner.”
Raeann Massey led FCHS with 13 points in defeat, while Maelie Nelson scored seven and Ari Nelson notched six for the game. It was Massey, though, who scored 11 points during the fourth to cut Malcolm's advantage to just 11 — the margin that ended the Pioneers' season.
CLASS C1-3 SUBDISTRICT TOURNAMENT
Thursday
Malcolm 46, Fort Calhoun 35
MHS (15-10) 14 14 13 5 — 46
FCHS (16-9) 6 7 9 13 — 35
Scoring: FCHS — Raeann Massey 13, Maelie Nelson 7, Ari Nelson 6, Ella Bouwman 3, Dehlia Hallberg 3, Ansley Elofson 3.
MHS — Payton Dolliver 24, Merryl Paul 8, Kenna Wilcox 5, Lena Schmidt 4, Kamryn Broders 2, Baylor Bratrsovsky 1.
