Superior girls split home games; boys drop two

The battle and shuffle for playoff seeding is underway.

And some of the most interesting potential matchups take place in the middle tiers of the conference standings ladder, as was the case with Superior boys’ and girls’ teams hosting St. Ignatius and Eureka this past week. 

The Superior girls split their two season-concluding home games, beating Eureka 48-36 this past Tuesday in a make-up game, then falling Friday night to St. Ignatius 68-28, both Western 7B conference games. 

Superior’s boys lost both of their home games, and for a while at least, their standout sophomore center, Landon Richards, who suffered an ankle injury during Tuesday’s 53-35 loss to Eureka. The Bobcats then fell to St. Ignatius 54-46. 

Both Superior teams also play at Thompson Falls Saturday to close out their regular season.

Coach Jeff Schultz’s girls opened their week by jumping ahead of Eureka’s Lady Lions 13-5 after the first quarter.  They then cranked up their offense in the second quarter, outscoring the visitors 23-10 enroute to a 36-15 halftime lead. 

Eureka fought back in the third quarter, slicing 11 points off the Superior lead to make the score 38-28 with eight minutes left in the game. 

The two teams traded baskets in the fourth quarter as Superior was able to pad its lead by two points on their way to wrapping up the conference victory. The Lady Bobcats' standout senior forward, Braelynn Mangold led all scorers with 18 points.  The Cats also received 10 points each from sophomore guard Josie Crabb and Maryisa Swope. 

Brynn Kossman led Eureka with 11 points. 

The Cats hosted St. Ignatius Friday night, where the Lady Bulldogs ran out to a 15-6 first quarter lead.  They then erupted for 25 points in the second quarter while holding Superior to three.  That gave St. Ignatius a 40-9 lead at the half. 

The Bulldogs outscored Superior 28-19 in the second half to nail down the decisive win.  Four St. Ignatius players scored in double figures, led by Cora Matt’s 16 points. Mangold paced Superior with 14, including seven points in the third quarter. 

The win/loss situation left Superior with a 5-4 7B conference record and an 8-9 overall mark.  St. Ignatius rose to 8-1 in league play and 14-4 on the year with the win over Superior. 

Meanwhile, the Superior boys fell behind Eureka 15-3 after the first quarter.  Superior fought back but the Lions added one point to their lead in the second quarter, sending the two teams to halftime with Eureka holding a 29-16 advantage. 

The second half was a back-and-forth affair, with Eureka adding five points to its lead over the final two quarters to close out the 7B win. 

Logan Merrill, who stepped into the void left by the injury to Richards, who had just two points when he turned his ankle, led the Bobcats with 16 points.  Tyce VanOrden topped Eureka with a game-high 21 points. 

Friday night the Bobcats hosted St. Ignatius, which took a 12-10 lead after the first quarter of play. Superior then outscored the Bulldogs 11-6 in the second quarter, giving the Bobcats a 21-18 halftime advantage. 

The Bobcats added one point to their lead in the third quarter, staking them to a 34-30 lead into the final quarter. 

Then, the wheels fell off the bus for the Bobcats, who surrendered 24 points to the Lions in the final eight minutes while they held Superior to 12, wrapping up the conference win. 

St. Ignatius scoring machine Lex LaFrombois led all scorers with 30 points, while sophomore guard Gannon Quinlan topped Superior with 20. 

The twin losses dropped Superior to 1-7 in conference play and 6-12 on the year.  St. Ignatius improved to 4-6 in 7B games and 6-12 overall. 

Next up for Superior and St. Ignatius is the Western 7B District tournament this Thursday through Saturday in St. Ignatius.