Sunday, February 9, 2025

Beloit ladies fall to Colby Eagles in semi-finals

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The Beloit Lady Trojans lost to the Colby Lady Eagles, 48-30, Friday, January 24, in the semifinals of the Colby tournament. 

With the loss that ended its five-game winning streak, Beloit fell to 7-4. The Lady Trojans were to face Wellington on Saturday, January 25, in their Orange & Black Classic consolation game. The Lady Crusaders were 10-1 after losing  to Hays in overtime on Friday.

On Friday, senior Addison Budke made a shot to give Beloit an early 2-0 lead. Later in the first quarter, senior Olivia Wright’s basket doubled the edge. 

Alisabeth Barton answered with a bucket in the middle of the first. Sophomore Samantha Thompson made a three-pointer to push the lead to 7-2 before Brenn Stanley’s basket.        

Following another Colby basket, Cassandra Thompson’s putback increased the edge to 9-6. Junior McKenna Channell followed with a free throw.

Shaylee Holzmeister closed the quarter with a free throw and trey to tie the score at 10 going to the second. She opened the second with a basket to complete the Lady Eagles’ 10-3 spurt, which put them ahead, 12-10.

Cassandra Thompson responded with a bucket to even the score. After the teams alternated baskets, freshman Landry Litton’s basket gave the Lady Trojans a 16-14 lead.

After two Colby baskets, Budke’s bucket eved the score at 18. The hometown team added two more buckets, including a trey, before Budke’s basket that completed the quarter’s offensive production. 

The Lady Eagles led, 23-20, at intermission. They opened the third quarter with five points before Wright made a basket to cut the gap to 28-22 in the middle of the third. 

After a three-point play by each team, Cassandra Thompson’s bucket narrowed the deficit to 31-27 late in the quarter.  Holzmeister closed it with a basket; Colby led, 33-27, headed to the fourth.

 The Lady Eagles dominated the final frame, scoring 15 points in the first six minutes to push the lead to 48-27. Junior Autumn Lorenz made a basket and free throw before the game’s scoreless final minute.

Beloit Head Coach Keith Kresin was disappointed that his team lost, but it kept the game competitive  before Colby’s spurt late in the contest. 

“We hung with them,” he said. “We played well the first half.”

Kresin praised his team’s opponents for their performance.

“My hat’s off to Colby,” he said. “They played a heck of a ballgame. They were quicker to the ball than we were.”

The coach is pleased with his players’ steady progress. 

“We’re going to continue to make improvements,” he said. “Our guards are all getting better.”

Kresin praised Channell for how her performance is improving.

“I’m excited for McKenna,” the coach said. “She’s coming along. She’s a playmaker.”

Kresin said his team would not dwell on this loss but would look ahead to performing as well as possible.

“We just got to put this game behind us and execute,” he said.