Lions Fall To Bainville In First-round Contest

Bainville’s girls’ basketball team fought off Lustre by a 50-46 final during opening round action at the Eastern C divisional tournament in Glasgow on Thursday, Feb. 29.

The Bulldogs led for nearly all of the contest but had little breathing room throughout the night. After a 15-footer by Lustre’s Alexa Reddig pulled the Lions to 33-32 with 1:15 left in the third quarter, the Bulldogs ended the period on a high note when Elsie Wilson scored off a rebound and Miah Pippenger hit a three-pointer for a 38-32 lead.

After Lustre’s Aubri Holzrichter scored on a fastbreak, the Bulldogs responded with a basket off a rebound by Tally Berwick and a drive by Wilson. The Lions, however, didn’t back down as a free throw and 12-footer by Reddig closed the gap to 44-37 with 4:04 left.

Another basket by Wilson off a great pass from Brecklyn Pippenger put the score at 46-37 with 3:05 remaining.

Ahead by six points, the Bulldogs gained a 49-41 lead on a drive by Hailey Berwick with 44 seconds left.

The Lions kept the heat on when Lauryn Holzrichter’s three-pointer bounced in. Free throws by Reddig got Lustre as close as 49-46 with nine seconds remaining.

Wilson hit a free throw with seven seconds left to give the Bulldogs a comfortable four-point lead.

Top scorers for Bainville were Wilson with 17 and T. Berwick with 12 points. M. Pippenger and H. Berwick added seven points each. B. Pippenger and Lila Butikofer had three points.

Leaders in rebounds for Bainville were T. Berwick with nine and B. Pippenger with eight. H. Berwick finished with seven assists.

Top scorers for Lustre were Reddig with 15, A. Holzrichter with 13 and Kencia Brown with 11 points. Also scoring were L. Holzrichter with three and Grace Brown with two. K. Brown finished with nine rebounds.

Bainville held a 10-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. A turnaround shot by T. Berwick, a three-pointer by H. Berwick and a drive by Wilson increased Bainville’s advantage to 19-12.

The Lions, however, cut the gap to 21-18 on a three-pointer by K. Brown with 1:57 remaining in the half. Another three-pointer by K. Brown got the Lions as close as 2321, but baskets by T. Berwick and M. Pippenger provided Bainville with a 27-21 halftime lead.