Lady Wildcats split weekend away games

The Banner County lady Wildcats split last weekend’s games with a close win over Guernsey-Sunrise on Friday followed by a loss to Morrill on Saturday.

Friday’s game got serious very quickly. The Lady Wildcats closed the first quarter with 20 and their hosts, 11. The Lady Vikings outscored the Banner County girls in the second quarter, adding five to the board but allowing just two from the Lady Wildcats.

Coming back from half-time the Lady Wildcats came out with renewed vigor and added 11 to the board while the Guernsey-Sunrise girls were held to three.

In the final quarter the Lady Vikings rallied, scoring 22, but Banner County answered with 14 of their own and won the game 47-41.

MaKenna Dahlgrin led the Banner County girls against the Lady Vikings putting up 18 points. Dahlgrin made 7/16 field goals and was 4/11 at the line.

Freshman Jadyn Cross stepped up big time contributing 10 points towards the victory, shooting 4/7 inside the arch and going 2/2 from the line. Cross wasn’t afraid to try the longer shots either, with two attempted three-point field goals, though neither of them landed.

Six Lady Wildcats scored in the game. Emily Singleton added seven, and landed the sole three-point field goal and Courtney Knisley also contributed seven, while Paige Cross added four and Shaylee White one.

Dahlgrin got her double double, leading in rebounds as well, with three offensive and eight defensive for a total of 11, followed by Knisley with nine grabs and Savannah Jordan with eight.

Singleton grabbed six, White pulled down four and added three assists and one steal, Paige Cross and Jadyn Cross each pulled down two.

The Lady Wildcats found themselves in some foul trouble, with White, Jordan and Paige Cross racking up five each. Dahlgrin and Jadyn Cross each added four personal fouls, while Singleton and Knisley had three fouls each.

Banner Co. 20 2 11 14 – 47

G.-Sunrise 11 5 3 22 – 41

The Banner County girls traveled to Morrill the following day to face the Morrill Lady Lions and despite a close first quarter (6-7), the Lady Wildcats were unable to pull out a second win.

The Morrill ladies stepped up their game in the second quarter and added 18 to the board but held the Wildcats to just five.

Coming back from halftime the Banner County girls put forth a renewed effort and added 15 the their board but they were again outscored with 22 and in the final quarter the Lady Cats gained 11 but again were outdone with a gain of 19 for the Morrill girls.

The Lady Wildcats closed the gap in the fourth they gained 11 but

Dahlgrin led scoring with 15, shooting 5/13 two-pointers and landing 5/9 from the line. Knisley followed close behind with 11 points to her credit, hitting just two of nine attempted field goals but making seven free throws of nine tries.

Both Dahlgrin and Knisley earned double doubles, pulling down 14 and 11 rebounds respectively.

Just two fellow Lady Wildcats that got on the score board, with Paige Cross contributing seven and Jadyn Cross, four.

The Lady Wildcats out-rebounded their hosts 39-37, but wasn’t able to turn those grabs into points. Jadyn Cross grabbed six rebounds with Jordan and Paige Cross pulling down three each. White and Bailee Underhill each grabbed one.

The Morrill girls were credited with a total of twelve assists and 20 steals compared to six and eight respectively for the Wildcats.

Banner Co. 6 5 15 11 – 37

Morrill 7 18 22 19 – 66