The Lady Jays were back to Big Seven competition when they traveled to Elwood on Tuesday, Jan. 31, to take on the 13-1 Riverside Cyclones. Sabetha lost to the Cyclones in week three by a 10-point margin at home, and they were determined to return the favor in this newest meeting. Sabetha trailed by 2 points at the break, but they bolstered their defensive pressure in the second half to come away with the win, 54-44.

“We installed a defense over the last week that we thought we might run here and there against a few opponents, and we ended up running it the whole night with a lot of success,” said Head Coach Nate Bauman. “Jessica Gruber played great defense on Riverside’s best player most of the night and we rebounded very well as a team.”

The Bluejays outscored the Cyclones 14-9 in the first frame with five players posting points, led by senior Mary Lukert with 4 points and treys from senior Carly Hartter and junior Alexia Hayden. Seniors Halle Scoby and Jessica Gruber had a bucket each in the effort.

But scoring was limited for the Jays in the second period as Riverside kept their guests at bay. Gruber accounted for the only points for her team with a triple, and the Cyclones closed the scoring deficit and took the lead by the intermission, 19-17.

Lukert continued her aggressive attacks at the basket in the second half and punished the Cyclones from the perimeter, in the paint and from the free throw line. Lukert had 9 points in the third quarter, with Hayden swishing two triples and senior Trinity Detweiler splashing a trey. Sabetha regained the lead by the end of the third quarter, 37-34, and would have to turn up the heat in the final period in order to win the game.

Lukert added 11 points to her personal tally in the final eight minutes, bringing her to 24 points for the game. Gruber added 4 points and Scoby added 2. The Jays outscored the Cyclones 17-10 in the fourth quarter and that was enough to grab the win from Riverside, 54-44.

“Mary Lukert led us in scoring with 24, but we got great contributions from Jessica Gruber, Alexis Hayden, Halle Scoby, Carly Hartter and Trinity Detweiler on the offensive end. Though she didn’t score, Mikenna Haverkamp was an essential part of our defense, playing physical down low and helping us gain our rebounding advantage,” Coach Bauman said.

With the victory, the Lady Jays improved to 8-6 overall and 5-3 in the Big Seven, putting them in third place in the league behind No. 2 Riverside and No. 1 Nemaha Central.

“It was a great win for our girls over a great team,” Coach Bauman said. “I feel like we have been steadily improving since Christmas break, but our schedule has been so tough there were still some losses in there. So this win just kind of helped validate where we thought we were getting to. We are getting more and more confident on the offensive end and we have been good on defense all year long, so I am excited to see where we can go from here!”