Flying high
Eagles sweep season series over Knights with 44-38 victory
Sadie Hoffman started strong and finished even stronger to lead Youngsville to a 44-38 Region 2 win over visiting Eisenhower Thursday.
Hoffman scored 10 points in the first quarter and eight in the fourth. Her 3-pointer with 3:52 to put the Eagles on top for good and started a string of eight straight points for the senior.
“She got the momentum back for us,” Youngsville coach Vicky Montecalvo said. “She got hot again and was exactly what we needed.”
A back-and-forth first quarter saw Youngsville emerge with a 13-9 advantage and they led from that point until Emiley Wheeler’s basket with 6:46 to play in the fourth put Eisenhower on top, 32-31. The lead changed hands twice more from there until Hoffman started her run with 3:52 left. She hit another basket with 2:28 to go and capped the run with a 3-pointer to give Youngsville a 41-34 advantage with 1:39 to play. Wheeler and Lily Renninger hit layups on consecutive possessions to cut the lead to 41-38, but Kenzie Olewine knocked down a free throw and Chloe Senz made a layup with seconds remaining for the final tally.
“We 100 percent needed this,” Montecalvo said. “The win Monday and today helped build back some of our confidence.”
Defensively, the Eagles played a zone that severly limited Wheeler’s offensive chances. She averages more than 15 points per game, but finished Thursday with 11.
“We came out playing a 2-3 zone and it worked,” Montecalvo said. “We clogged the lanes and shut that (option) down.”
Delaney Chase led the Knights with 12 points.
Hoffman finished with a game-high 24 points. Senz added seven points and eight rebounds.
Eisenhower travels to Titusville Saturday, while Youngsville heads to Maplewood Monday.
Youngsville hung on to win the junior varsity contest, 26-23.
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Eisenhower (38)
Marino 1-0-0-3, Peterson 0-1-2-1, Wheeler 4-3-4-11, Renninger 2-1-3-5, Chase 5-1-1-12, Courtney 3-0-0-6, Jareno 0-0-0-0, Smith 0-0-0-0, Total 15-6-10-38
Youngsville (44)
Hoffman 11-0-1-24, Sherrard 2-0-1-4, Weissinger 1-1-2-3, Olewine 1-1-3-3, Senz 2-3-5-7, Rafalski 1-1-2-3, Stevenson 0-0-0-0, Carrington 0-0-0-0, Total 18-6-14-44
By Quarters
Eisenhower 9 8 10 11 – 38
Youngsville 13 14 4 13 – 44
3-point FGs: Eisenhower (2)-Chase, Marino. Youngsville (2)-Hoffman 2.