By Sophie Butler
As the Lady Mustangs traveled to Blue Hill on Friday, January 6, they fought long and hard to compete against their rival. The Mustangs came out strong, ending the first quarter with a score of 13-11, the Bobcats right behind them. The Mustangs pulled away from the Bobcats, outscoring them by 9 to go into the break leading 26-15. During the third quarter, the Mustangs fell short of 3 points, eager and confident to get back up there in the last quarter of the game. From the combined 22 points of freshmen top scorers of the game, Sophie Schmidt and Makenna Karr, the Mustangs managed to take the lead, ending the game with a final score of 43-30. Head coach Kate Sinsel said she was proud of the freshman duo: “Sophie and Mak stepped up in a huge way for us against Blue Hill. They have basketball knowledge that far surpasses what I expect from freshman players, and they found ways to put points on the board for us.” Sophomore Emma Schmidt contributed 9 points, helping out in pointing the Mustangs toward the win. Sophomore Katy Soucek and Karr led the team in rebounds, each getting 7. Overall, the Mustangs had 11 offensive rebounds by the end of the game, while they held the Bobcats to 5.
The next night, the Mustangs battled against the Red Hornets as Heartland Lutheran came to play against the Mustangs on their home court. The girls fought hard as they left the first quarter 3 points ahead, with a score of 6-9. In the second and third quarters, the Mustangs pulled away, heading into the last quarter of the game ahead by 11 points. Ultimately, the Mustangs came away with the 47-24 victory. The top scorers of the game, Soucek and senior Georgi tenBensel, helped lead the Mustangs toward the win as tenBensel put up 13 points, and Soucek, following right behind her, got 12. Soucek earned a double-double for the night, by contributing 15 rebounds as well; tenBensel pulled down 8 and Karr contributed 7. Sinsel said, “The girls were physically tired after the game the night before, and we struggled to get some shots to fall and had a slow start. However, they came out of halftime with a lot of intensity and managed to pull off the win. I am proud of how much grit this team shows every night.”