Two Thrilling Wins For The Lady Cowboys

The North Gem Lady Cowboys faced a pair of conference opponents last week and came away with a pair of exciting wins.  The Lady Cowboys first took on the Lady Royals from Grace Lutheran at home on Tuesday.  This was the second meeting of the teams this season.  In their first battle at Grace Lutheran the Lady Royals came away with a hard fought victory winning by six points.  In Tuesday’s game it was once again a very competitive game especially in the early going.  The Lady Cowboys were not only battling their opponents in this game but also had girls recovering from illness as well as a couple of girls sitting out with injuries.  Even with those odds stacked against them the Lady Cowboys went to work in this game and showed a real gutty performance.  In the early going the Lady Royals took the lead but the game stayed very close for the most part.  After just one quarter of play Grace Lutheran held a three point lead over the Lady Cowboys.  In the second period of play the two teams matched each other’s offensive output and entered the half with Grace Lutheran still holding a slim three point lead.  It was in the third quarter that the Lady Cowboys were able to turn things around by applying some good ball pressure and creating turnovers.  North Gem seized on the momentum shift and outscored the Lady Royals by eight points in the quarter.  Now in control of the game the Lady Cowboys poured it on in the fourth and final quarter.  North Gem ended up pulling away from the Lady Royals avenging their early season loss on the road.  This was an impressive win for the Lady Cowboys with a total team effort having eight different girls contribute to the final score. 

Indyana Hatch gathers the ball as she turns to face the basket.

After the exciting win over a solid Grace Lutheran team North Gem hit the road to take on the Lady Patriots from American Heritage.  This game started off very slow for both teams.  In the first quarter the Lady Cowboys only managed to score four points and the Lady Patriots only made a pair of foul shots.  After a less than impressive first quarter the Lady Cowboys began to hit their stride in the second.  The Lady Cowboys were able to add thirteen points in the second frame of the game.  Defensively the Lady Cowboys were able to stop the Lady Patriots from hitting a single field goal.  Unfortunately North Gem did begin to earn several fouls with their aggressive defensive play.  The Lady Cowboys sent American Heritage to the foul line for eighteen shots in the first half.  Luckily the Lady Patriots only made nine of those shots giving North Gem a comfortable halftime lead.  In the second half the fouls really started to add up for both teams.  Between the two squads a total of forty-eight foul shots would be taken in just the second half alone.  The Lady Cowboys were able to hit more of their shots and come away with another conference win.

Going into a long Christmas break North Gem is now holding a 4-2 record.  When they return back to action the Lady Cowboys will enter their toughest four game stretch of the season.  In those four games they will travel to Challis, then host Ledore and Rockland before hitting the road again to Sho Ban.

Cowboys 5 10 16 15 45

Royals 8 10 8 5 31

G. Christensen 8, M. Rindlisbaker 4, S. Daniels 3, O. Rindlisbaker 8, I. Hatch 4, D. Frandsen 7, K. Olenslager 8, C. Hatch 4

Cowboys 4 13 10 11 38

Patriots 2 7 6 7 22

G. Christensen 2, M. Rindlisbaker 2, O. Rindlisbaker 1, I. Hatch 1, M. O’Brien 3, S. Thompson 5, D. Frandsen 2, M. Barnes 8, K. Olenslager 3, C. Hatch 11