The Lady Bluejays have come up short in several of their recent games, but that has not diminished the fire in their hearts and the competitive spirit of Sabetha tradition. They see their next game as their next biggest challenge and the case at hand is a road contest with the 3-4 Hiawatha Red Hawks. The Jays would take the win, 38-36.

“What a tough win for our team,” said Head Coach Nate Bauman. “I was so happy for them to make plays down the stretch to pull out a close victory, after three other close losses. Hiawatha is a long, athletic team who plays a unique defense that is difficult to prepare for. I thought our girls did a good job of staying the course and taking what the defense was giving us, and then holding their scoring down defensively enough that we could come up with the win.”

It was a defensive battle from the start with both teams reluctant to give up the easy bucket. Senior Jessica Gruber put her team on her back in the front court to lead her team in scoring for the night and tallying 6 of her 16 points in the first quarter. Senior Penn Bachelor had it dialed in from long range and buried the first of her three treys for the game during the first period. Sabetha led 9-4 at the end of one frame.

The second quarter was a dead heat offensively with both teams inking 9 points. Gruber added 4 points, junior Alexia Hayden posted a triple and senior Mary Lukert had a bucket in an effort to maintain their meager lead from first period. The score at the break was 18-13, Sabetha leading.

“Hiawatha, was really on fire to start the second half and took the lead pretty quickly. We were able to answer enough to keep it tied heading into the fourth quarter,” Coach Bauman said.

The Lady Jays struggled to contain the Red Hawks to start the second half and their lead dwindled in a hurry. Soon, Sabetha found themselves trailing their host and were down by 3 points at the end of the third quarter, 25-28. Senior Halle Scoby hit a much needed three-pointer, with Gruber and Hayden adding 2 points apiece.

“In the fourth, we had Penn Bachelor step up and hit two huge three pointers off assists from Mary Lukert and Jessica Gruber,” Coach Bauman said.

With Bachelor’s treys, Gruber being perfect from the line on four attempts and Lukert kicking in 3 points in the final stanza, the Jays cinched up the gap and outscored Hiawatha 13-8 in the closing minutes of the contest. Sabetha would take the win, 38-36.

“It was really nice to see other girls step their scoring up on a night when Mary’s [Lukert] scoring was less than normal. It was also wonderful to see Mary distribute nine assists to her teammates and come up with five steals, showing she can have a huge impact on the game, even when she is not scoring,” Coach Bauman said. “Great team effort and really nice to get back in the win column!”

The Lady Jays continued their long and grueling road campaign and traveled to Perry-Lecompton to take on the 4-4 Kaws on Friday, Jan. 13.