On Friday, Feb. 2, the Eureka Lady Tornadoes faced the Neodesha Bluestreaks on the road.
Eureka’s outstanding job on rebounds and a 10-4 second quarter effort led them to yet another victory, 43-33.
Neodesha had the first attempt at the basket after securing the tip, which they converted into two to take the first lead of the game. Freshman Elle Coulter responded in kind with a shot from behind the arc on a sideline inbound, assisted by sophomore Brenna Rucker. Neodesha stole the lead on the following possession with a basket, 4-3. The proceeding possessions resulted in back and forth scoring, each team responding when the other would score. Free throws from Rucker and a field goal from junior Laynie Winfrey pulled Eureka’s lead to 1510 through the first quarter.
The Bluestreaks banked in a three-point shot early in the second quarter. It took a few minutes for the Tornadoes to contribute to their scoring column, but as soon as Rucker nailed a shot from three-point land, Eureka began firing off offensively. Another two points from Rucker, and five from sophomore Lydia Mason concluded the first half with the score at 25-15.
The first five points of the second half belonged to the Tornadoes. Coulter kicked the ball to Winfrey for a corner three. After obtaining the ball on a defensive rebound, Rucker raced the ball down the floor and drew the foul under the basket. Draining both free throws, the Tornadoes were now ahead 30-15. Neodesha answered with a three-pointer, shortening the gap. A couple possessions later, Winfrey got the defensive rebound and passed the ball ahead to Rucker, putting the Bluestreak defenders in a scramble. Rucker found sophomore Alaina Westerman wide open on the elbow. Instead of shooting the deep two-pointer, Westerman faked the shot, causing her defender to jump and opening up the lane for an easy bucket. Eureka struggled to find the bottom of the net for the remainder of the quarter, giving Neodesha the opportunity to outscore them 7-8.
Both teams battled until the final buzzer, but Eureka had the last laugh, scoring a total of 11 points to Neodesha’s 10 in the last eight minutes. Winfrey and Rucker each knocked down a shot from behind the arc, as well as one inside the paint. The final buzzer sounded a 43-33 Eureka victory and maintained the Lady Tornadoes’ undefeated TVL record.
Stats and Scoring Leaders: POINTS: Rucker 18, Winfrey 10, Mason 5, Westerman and Coulter 4, and Britta Mongeau 2. REBOUNDS: Rucker 10, Westerman 7, Winfrey 6, Ptacek, Mongeau, and Coulter 2, and Maddie Miller 1. ASSISTS: Rucker 5 and Winfrey 4. STEALS: Rucker 5
and Winfrey 2.
Up Next
Eureka was slated to hit the road on Monday to face the Fredonia Yellowjackets in a makeup game.
On Tuesday, the Tornadoes were to host Council Grove at home and return to the road to play Bluestem this Friday.
