Lady Honkers steal their way to third place

The Willows High girls varsity basketball team claimed a third place prize on Saturday night, beating host Durham in the final evening of the Durham Tournament, 39-25.

The beginning of the meeting saw the Trojans want the victory, with both teams playing a similar level of ball. This would change however, when team-leader Colleen Tade got some air, and put the smack down on two potential shots from two different Durham players. Tade would continue to enforce airborne justice on the opposing team, swatting down five of their intended shots.

Courtney Dicharry would draw the first the foul of the night, and put down two smooth, and all net free-throws, while teammate Ally Brunner scored her first points of the evening with a jump shot over a defending Trojan. Brunner would lead the Honkers in scoring for the night, putting up 14 points. Despite the hard work coming from the Willows side, Durham went into the second quarter with a five-point lead over the visiting team.

The second quarter saw Tade get her hand on another shot, as well as take the initiative and dish out an assist to an in-motion Brunner, who took the ball in for two. Tade would finish her evening with eight points, as well as getting a team-high seven rebounds. Megan Hughes had a stellar night, offering up an impressive offensive and defensive game, the highlight of which was recovering her own rebound and taking the globe in herself. Hughes tallied six points during the game.

Hughes continued to direct the Honkers defense in the last half, forcing dribbling and shooting errors from multiple Trojans, and showing off her up-court speed after stealing the ball on one occasion. This healthy defense helped the Honkers keep the Trojans down to just six points in third quarter, as well as shutting out the home team in the fourth quarter to capture third place in the tournament.

Brunner received special recognition for her outstanding play during the awards presentation.

Honkers coach Steve Ebell was pleased with the win and applauded the girls play, mentioning, " We played more as a team, and that is very important. We passed a lot more today. Passing is essential, and something we are working on doing more of, so that is great." The coach added, "Our defense did really well too. We held them to a shutout in the last quarter, and had many steals during the game."

Willows is now 4-4 overall. The Honkers played Winters on the road Tuesday.

CONTACT Emily Saint-Evens @ 824-7990 or esaintevens@tcnpress.com