KCC Beacats girls defeat Northern Freeze, fall to Roseau Rams
By Mark Johnson, coach
KCC 62 – NF 59
The KCC Bearcats and the Northern Freeze got together for both a North Border and a Northern Galaxy Conference game Monday, Jan. 9 at Kittson Central. The two teams belong to both conferences.
The first half was a tightly contested game with only two instances of the score being separated by more than 1 offensive possession. KCC briefly held a 12-8 advantage in the first part of the half, and late in the half the Northern Freeze held a 25-19 lead before the Bearcats scored the last five points and closed the lead to 25-24 at halftime.
The two teams remained in a battle for much of the second half of play as well. The Bearcats and Freeze exchanged leads and kept it a one-possession game until the 8:54 mark of the second half when the Bearcats began to build an advantage. KCC took a 41-39 lead and scored the next 7 points to take a 48-39 lead and force the Freeze to play catch up.
The Bearcats held their working margin until late in the game when the Freeze made their final surge and tied the game at 58-58 with 3:14 left in the contest. KCC answered with a basket 22 seconds later and held a 60-58 lead at the 2:52 mark. The Bearcats added two free throws down the stretch while only allowing a single free throw to the Freeze to claim a 62-59 hard fought win.
It was a good game for us. We experienced just about every situation during the evening. We trailed, we played with the lead, we found a way to compose ourselves after giving up a lead late in the game. All those experiences will serve us well as the season progresses.
Scoring leaders: Ella Olson 23, Morgan Turn 13, Greta Kuznia 13, Aidra Johnson 5, McKinley Folland 4, Lily Peterson 4
Rebound leaders: Aidra Johnson 9, Ella Olson 9, Morgan Turn 7, McKinley Folland 6, Lily Peterson 5
Assist leaders: Aidra Johnson 5, Lily Peterson 4
KCC 50 – Rams 70
The Bearcats continued North Border Conference play on Thursday, Jan. 12 in Lancaster against the Roseau Rams. The two teams played in early December with the Rams getting the 5-point win in the first matchup.
Game two started out in favor of the Bearcats as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead. The lead disappeared quickly as the Rams went on a 34-10 run over the next several minutes to post a 34-17 lead late in the first half. KCC made a surge late in the half and went on an 18-2 run to close the game to 34-26 at halftime.
The second half played out in favor of the Rams, as well. KCC struggled to keep the Rams off the offensive glass as well as keep them from getting quality scoring opportunities. Offensively the Bearcats couldn’t convert on their quality looks and the Ram lead slowly grew to around the 20-point mark. The game ended with the Rams claiming the 70-50 win and the Bearcats regrouping for following week’s slate of games.
We started out fast and gave ourselves a quick working margin but couldn’t sustain that level of play. As they say, hindsight is 20-20, but we just were a step slower than they were most of the night.
Scoring leaders: Morgan Turn 16, Ella Olson 10, Kaydence White 9, Julia Kujava 6, Lily Peterson 4, Aidra Johnson 3, Berlyn Strege 2
Rebound leaders: Ella Olson 6,
Assist leaders: Afton Lindgren 4
