Lady Hawks take win from Trotters

PLAINS – In what started out a fast-paced competitive game that seemed to be in the control of the Trotters, the Lady Hawks were able to steal the lead and come out with a hard-fought win on Thursday at Plains.

The Lady Hawks struggled at first with the Trotters aggressive offense, and could not get a good rebound in the slough of shots fired by the Trotters. Couple that with the power and agility of Trotters Sami Kinzie and Hailey Phillips, by the end of the first quarter, the Lady Hawks were down by ten, and the board read 19-9.

Into the second quarter, the Lady Hawk’s put more points on the board via free throws netted by Logan Beckman and post shots made by Hope Reid. For the Trotters, Carley VonHeeder made her presence known with her sinking 4 points total, while teammates Jessica Hansen and Ashley Holmes pitched in some top-of-the-paint shots and a free throw. The Trotters still had the lead at the end of the first half, 28-23 and Trotter fans were energetic with pride, while Lady Hawks fans resumed in silence.

Coming out of the halftime break, Trotter players Tia Thompson and Ashley Holmes posted two points each, and put the score 32-23, Trotters. Things were looking okay for the young Plains team, and fans were pleased.

Then came the reign of Lady Hawks’ ace shooter Allison Vaught.

Vaught, along with guard teammate Logan Beckman, put points on the board for the Lady Hawks, and soon enough, they were just behind the Trotters, 32-31. 

A few fouls and free throws later, Vaught’s shot took the lead from the Trotters; she sank a three-pointer that put the Lady Hawks ahead of the Trotters, 34-37. The Trotters fired back via Carley VonHeeder, who also sank a form-perfect three-pointer, and the game was tied up 37-37. Lady Hawk Kelsey Fitchett got the next basket, which pushed the Lady Hawks ahead by two, but that was soon answered by Trotter sophomore Felicia Earhart, who sank a three. The Trotters were up by just one point. But then, Vaught came in again.

Vaught sank yet another three-pointer, and at the end of the third quarter, the Lady Hawks had taken the lead, 40-42. 

Trotter offense came screaming into the fourth quarter, led by the three-pointer sinking efforts of VonHeeder and Earhart. Lady Hawks Logan Beckman and Hope Reid were quick to answer, and the Lady Hawks lead came again, 46-48. From there, the Trotters were unable to get their lead back from the Lady Hawks. Fitchett and Reid put in more points, and shots fired by the Trotters couldn’t get in. Vaught was the last to seal the deal, and the Lady Hawks came out with a victory, 52-60.

“We had a really good second half. What happened was that Logan Beckman scored 24 points and Allison Vaught had three 3-pointers in the third quarter. We shot 74 percent on free pointers,” said coach Reimer. “Plains is always going to be a scrappy, good team so we expected them to come out with the type of game they played.”