Lustre Christian Girls Hold Off Bainville in Class C Basketball Play

The Lustre Christian Lions pulled away in the final minute to edge Bainville, 47-41, in girls’ basketball action in Lustre on Friday, Jan. 8.

Lustre Coach Bill Reddig admired the way that his team kept hustling throughout the non-conference contest.

“They never gave up,” Reddig said.

He was pleased that the Lions opened their season with a victory. “We got our game jitters out,” the coach said.

The Lions led by a 30-24 margin at the end of the third quarter, but Bainville battled back with the first nine points of the fourth quarter. Two baskets by Lakyn Rabbe opened the final period. Rabbe, a junior, then accounted for a three-point play to put the Bulldogs up 31-30 with 6:32 remaining.

A layup by Kaitlyn Adkins gave Bainville a 33-30 lead with 4:41 remaining.

After Lustre’s Alexa Reddig canned a three-pointer at the 4:20 mark, Bainville’s Brecklyn Pippenger connected from three-point range with 3:39 left. The Lions regained the lead on an inside shot by senior Tiara Whitmus and a drive by Reddig.

Aubri Holzrichter, a freshman, increased the margin to 40-36 with 2:31 to play.

The Bulldogs kept the heat on when eighth-grader Elsie Wilson accounted for a steal and layup with 1:41 remaining. After each squad missed from the foul stripe, Lustre’s Reddig hit two free throws with 28 seconds left. A threepoint play by Rabbe pulled the Bulldogs to 42-41 with still 18 seconds remaining.

The Lions, however, held on for the victory as a pair of free throws by Holzrichter and a basket by Grace Brown put the margin at 46-41 with only 12 seconds left. Leading the Bulldogs were Rabbe with 14 and Wilson with 10 points. Also scoring were Pippenger with seven, Adkins with six, Kendra Romo with two and Micah Anderson with two.

Bainville led 10-7 at the end of the first quarter but trailed 16-14 at the half. Lustre Christian led by as many as eight points in the third quarter.