Fort Calhoun girls basketball coach Eric Jones knew exactly what he wanted to say after the Pioneers' 47-31 first-round Nebraska Capitol Conference (NCC) Tournament win against Syracuse.
Coaches made defensive adjustments all week leading up to the Tuesday night game.
“And it was not working. We were not getting any steals, any deflections or anything like that,” Jones said. “So, we went into halftime and we said, 'Hey, the house is on fire. Let's not make the bed, OK? Throw it all out.'”
FCHS (13-3 overall) led just 15-13 through two periods, but switched to a zone defense and the game picked up — both defensively and offensively.
“We started getting steals, started getting deflections, getting turnovers and what-not,” Jones said. “The girls really responded well.”
He was impressed with how they gutted out the tourney game.
“We've got some beat-up, tired girls right now, so they're doing a really good job of being tough,” the coach explained.
Sophomore Ansley Elofson led the Pioneers with 17 points against the Rockets. She was in favor of the attacking defense her squad used to advance onto today's 6 p.m. NCC semifinal at Arlington.
“We were just going for more steals because there were only so many girls that could handle the ball,” she said.
Maelie Nelson and Dehlia Hallberg combined for three 3-pointers during the third quarter to push Fort Calhoun's lead out to as many as seven points. Then, during the fourth, the Pioneers built upon their lead further with Raeann Massey's 3 at 34-26 and a 11-for-12 performance from the foul line.
Elofson, notably, was 8-for-8 on free throws during the final 8-minute period. She said the Pioneers have to shoot and make two free throws before every practice water break.
“Free throws win games,” the sophomore noted.
Nelson was 2-for-3 from the foul line, too, finishing with 11 points total. Massey added eight points and Hallberg scored six.
Natalee Wemhoff, meanwhile, led Syracuse (7-9) with nine points in defeat.
FCHS BASKETBALL LINE SCORE
Tuesday
Fort Calhoun 47, Syracuse 31
SHS (7-9) 8 5 11 7 — 31
FCHS (13-3) 9 6 12 20 — 47
Scoring: FCHS — Ansley Elofson 17, Maelie Nelson 11, Raeann Massey 8, Dehlia Hallberg 6, Jovi Grenier 4, Ari Nelson 1.
SHS — Natalee Wemhoff 9, Sidney Schubarth 7, Izabel Stubbendick 4, Kathleen Donovan 4, Jayden Meyer 4, Ava Mohr 2, Ashlynn Vestal 1.
