Britton-Hecla cut an 11-point halftime deficit to just one in the first minute of the fourth quarter but managed just a single fielder the rest of the way in a 53-41 girls basketball loss to Florence-Henry on Monday.
The Lady Braves stand at 0-4 heading into back-to-back home doubleheaders with Deuel on Friday (boys C 4 p.m., JV boys, girls 5 p.m., varsity girls 6:30 p.m., varsity boys to follow) and Tri-State on Saturday (JV boys, girls 2 p.m., varsity boys 3 p.m., varsity girls to follow). Both clubs hit the road on Tuesday, traveling to Milbank.
Florence-Henry, who started five sophomores, trailed 6-4 midway through the first period but went on an 11-4 run for a 15-10 lead at the quarter break and boosted that to 27-16 at halftime. The Falcons still led 33-23 with 4:06 to play in the third stanza before the Lady Braves came roaring back.
Koryn Jones started a 11-2 run with a three-pointer, Chellon Pruitt put one of her 21 rebounds back up for two, Tiana Tank sunk a 15-footer and Karlie Zuehlke swished a pair of free throw to make it 35-32 with a quarter to play.
The B-H momentum continued to open the final period when Pruitt scored underneath to cut the lead to 35-34 but then the visitors regained control with nine straight points. Jones hit her second trey at the 4:03 mark to give the Lady Braves some hope, trailing 46-38, but they hit just a pair of free tosses the rest of the way.
“We made a great run, doing what we should be doing,” said Nelson, “but turnovers, missed free throws, and missing shots underneath again cost us. We played great defense at times but then we relax and let them get the easy shots. I’m proud of what we did for three quarters but we were in foul trouble again and that really hurt us. We just need to keep our heads up and stay together as a team heading into the new year. We’re a good 0-4 basketball team but we need to prove it.”
Jones led B-H with 14 points and Pruitt added nine and a school record 21 rebounds, breaking the mark of 20 set by Peris Fellows. Karlie Zuehlke also grabbed eight boards. The Lady Braves were not able to find an answer for Florence-Henry sophomore Ashlynn Vavruska who pumped in 32 counters, including 8-10 from the charity stripe.
See this week's Journal for full stats
