Saints Fight Hard, But Fall To Pointers

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

The Shiloh Christian Saints could have done one of two things on Tuesday night — fight or give up.

“We don’t have a chance to make the state tournament right now, so our kids have a choice,” Shiloh Christian coach Brent Hester said. “They can lay down and quit or they can fight and play hard.”

Alma defeated Shiloh Christian 82-69 in a game where the Saints did not lay down.

“I was proud of them for the way they played,” Hester said.

While the game had no effect on the outcome of the Saints’ season, it did for the Airedales who are battling for second place with Harri- son.

“It was a great win for us up here on the road,” said Alma coach Stan Flenor. “It’s a late-season game, and it was a senior night for them.”

The Saints gained momentum at the end of the third quarter when Daniel Matthews hit a buzzer beating 3-pointer. The score brought the team within one possession and the score to 55-58 heading into the final minutes.

But every time Shiloh Christian came close, Alma gained momentum and widen the gap.

“We just never could get over the hump,” Hester said. “We got it to two there with about three or four minutes left, and they go and hit a big 3, make a stop and get a layup, and next thing you know it’s a seven-point game.

“Every time we got close, they just made a play.”

Hester said those types of big plays came as no surprise from a team like Alma, which had two of its players with 20 or more points.

“That’s why they’re one of the top teams in the state,” he said. “They’re good when they shoot it like they can, and are very hard to defend and put pressure on. I thought we played well but Alma is just a better basket- ball team.”

Alma 19 22 17 24 — 82

Shiloh Christian 16 18 21 14 — 69

ALMA (19-5, 9-4): Anderson 23, Widders 20, Candelaria 14, Jensen 8, Folkerts 7, Lee 5, Harris 3, Wight 2. SHILOH CHRISTIAN (10-13, 5-8): Harris 26, Pauling 10, Matthews 16, Anderson 7, Daniels 8, Crawford 2.

GIRLS

ALMA 51, SHILOH CHRISTIAN 47

The girl’s game was fairly quiet until the final minutes rolled around.

With 8.6 seconds left to play, Alma led Shiloh Chris- tian by two. Lady Saint Callie Harris hurled the ball down the court and hit Lauren Roth spot on who scored the layup at the buzzer to tie the game at 42 and to send it into over- time.

The teams remained close through the overtime period, but Alma would eventually came out on top 51-47.

Shiloh Christian’s Richelle Cooper led the game in scoring with 19 points. Robin Stewart and Hailey Ostrander led Alma in scoring with 16 and 13, respectively.

Alma 51113139—51

Shiloh Christian 9 10 8 15 5 — 47

ALMA (8-18, 3-10): Stewart 16, Ostrander 13, Newton 9, Murphy 6, Short 4, Roe 2, Wright 1,

SHILOH CHRISTIAN (0-12): Cooper 19, Jones 7, Harris 7, Sears 6, Roth 6, Coffman 2.