Patriots Drop Back-to-Back Nailbiters
Launch the media gallery 1 playerBy: Baylee Settje, a freshman at Leigh High School
This past week the Girls Patriot Basketball team had two very challenging back-to-back games against Humphrey St. Francis on January 14 and Pender on January 15. They knew going into both of these games they were going to have to battle really hard to secure wins.
The Patriots hadn’t played the St. Francis Flyers in 2 years due to bad weather, and this one was almost cancelled for the third year in a row. But, in the end, the game went on at an earlier time to beat the ice.
The Patriots were excited to play them on their home court. The Patriots started off strong, but then lost the momentum in the 4th quarter. They got through their press pretty well and stayed calm when under pressure, but Humphrey St. Francis kept knocking down their shots. The Patriots battled their hardest until the very end, but couldn’t come out with the win.
The score at the end of the game was 41-46 with Humphrey St. Francis winning. Overall, sophomore Chloe Hanel attacked the hoop to score 20 points with senior Kennedy Settje close behind her with 18 points.
Head Coach Matt Murren was asked about that game and he said, "It was a great atmosphere and fun environment to be a part of for the team. We led the first 26 minutes of the game and played really well. St. Francis made some plays in the 4th quarter that we were unable to overcome, which resulted in the loss. Overall, we handled the ball really well and got plenty of looks. We just have to continue to shoot with confidence, and they will fall."
Makenna Held, a senior, said, “The St. Francis Game was a setback for our team, but I think we learned from it. We didn't necessarily play bad basketball; we worked hard, but we just couldn't get the job done. We will take this loss as a lesson in our season and get back into our groove.”
The Patriots then went on to play Pender the very next day, wanting to get a win after the loss against Humphrey St. Francis. They led the game the whole time until they got to the fourth quarter.
Fourth quarter woes hit the Patriot girls again. In the fourth quarter, the Patriots couldn’t stop the Pendragons from scoring, which led to Pender tying the game to go into overtime. The Patriots fought to the very end, but were outscored 1-5 in overtime. The score at the end of the game was 56-60 with another devastating loss for the Patriots.
“We came out in the first quarter and got off to a hot start,” Coach Murren said. “We took a lot of great shots and they started falling early. Similar to St. Francis, we held the lead the majority of the game but were unable to get some scores and stops towards the end. We will learn from both of these games and improve from them."
Kennedy Settje was asked how the game went, and she said, “The Pender game didn’t end the way we wanted it to, however it was a good learning experience for us and allowed us to see what we needed to fix going forward. It was a great game but we just need to find a way to finish in the 4th when the game is close.”
These two losses snapped a five-game win streak for the Patriot girls. Their season record now stands at 9-5.
Game Stats vs. St. Francis:
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
St. Francis 8 15 8 15 46
Clarkson-Leigh 11 12 11 7 41
Individual Stats: (points, rebounds, assist, steals)
Chloe Hanel: 20, 4, 3, 5; Kennedy Settje: 18, 5, 0, 3; Makenna Held: 0, 2, 1, 2; Faith Indra: 1, 2, 0, 1 Korbee Wendt: 2, 3, 1, 0; Jessica Hoffman: 0, 2, 0, 0; Brynn Settje: 0, 2, 0, 1
Game Stats vs. Pender:
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT Final
Pender 8 14 14 19 5 60
Clarkson-Leigh 15 12 10 18 1 56
Individual Stats: (points, rebounds, assists, steals)
Chloe Hanel: 17, 6, 3, 4; Makenna Held: 2, 2, 4, 1; Kennedy Settje: 16, 4, 4, 0; Faith Indra: 12, 5, 1, 1; Jessica Hoffman: 2, 4, 1, 0 Korbee Wendt: 0, 6, 1, 0; Gracie Eisenmann: 2, 0, 0, 0; Brynn Settje: 5, 1, 0, 1