Plains: 61 Arlee: 70
<p><strong>Aaren VonHeeder leaps for the basket as Arlee’s defenders try to counter his shot.</strong></p>
PLAINS – After an intense game, the Plains Horsemen came away with a loss against the Arlee Scarlet Warriors, holding a final score of 61-70.
The game was very close. Arlee started gaining an initial lead, but the Horsemen were close behind. The home team began pulling back fast and brought it back to a one-point difference. Arlee started gaining again, but Plains tied the game at the end of the quarter with a three-point basket, ending the quarter with a score of 18 points.
As the second quarter opened, the teams maintained the tie in a deadlock. Plains broke away, though, and started pulling ahead, maintaining a three-point lead. Both teams fought to get ahead, but a score with five seconds left put the Horsemen in the lead with a halftime score of 37-33.
In the second half, Arlee broke away and retook the lead. Plains was keeping close, but the Scarlet Warriors were pulling ahead to a stronger lead. The Horsemen were able to start edging back, but it was not enough as Arlee sunk free throw after free throw. At the end of the period, they almost had a 10 point lead at 45-54.
The final quarter saw Plains rally and start coming back. The home team pulled close, but Arlee opened again. The Horsemen were able to pull back, but could not gain enough to break the other team’s lead.
While it was a loss, Head Coach Carl Benson was very pleased with how the guys played. He said they were tough and held strong with a tough team.
“We like what we see,” he said. “We like to have this atmosphere and it just helps get better.”
The hope was for the Horsemen to keep up with Arlee for at least one quarter. The guys, though, were able to stick close to them for most of the game; the coach recalled it was only later in the game that the Scarlet Warriors broke away to win.
Team captains Trent Broillette and Cole Benson also felt they had a good game, only getting too many turn overs as the game progressed. They feel everything is about where they want it to be and there are few major changes to be made.
“I can’t say anything bad,” Cole said. “Even though it was a loss, it was a good loss; we played our hearts out.”
As the second half of the season gets going, the Horsemen will be scouting out the teams as they play them for the second time. They will be reviewing video of the competition’s other games and adjusting their strategies for what awaits them.