Junior varsity cruises to 55-29 win

ETNA – Playing their third game in as many nights, they Etna Lady Lions needed to dig deep to find the strength for a late fourth quarter push to repel the invading Lost River Raiders, 60-45, on Thursday night.

Coming off back to back wins on consecutive nights against Shasta Cascade League foes Burney and Trinity, the Lady Lions actually seemed the fresher of the two teams in the first quarter. Etna’s full court pressure defense caused several turnovers, which led to easy buckets.

Lost River led 6-5, when Etna’s higher intensity level began to take its toll on the Lady Raiders. A steal by Emily Loogman and pass to Annaleisa Nadig for a hoop gave Etna a 7-6 lead, and started a 12-0 run that spanned the later portion of the first quarter and the start of the second. Another bucket by Nadig, a Nadig freebie, and a Nadig put back, pushed the Lady Lion lead to 12-6. Paige Finley made a free throw, and Etna led 13-6 at the end of one quarter.

Abby Journey hit back-to-back buckets, the second with an assist from Tandy Thackeray, to make it 17-6 early in the second quarter. The Lady Lions led by nine points going into the intermission, 30-21.

A different team came out of the Etna locker room to start the second half. The speed was gone, shots came up short. Nadig, who probably hasn’t missed four free throws in a row since second grade, did exactly that. With less than a minute left in the third quarter, the Lady Raiders had closed the gap to two points, 34-32. Etna had scored just four points in the entire third quarter, until Tandy Thackeray nailed a 3-ball with 20 seconds remaining to make it a 5-point game, 37-32, going into the final frame.

With three and a half minutes left in the contest, it was still anyone’s game, with Etna leading by just three points, 46-43. But some how, some way, the Lady Lions found the energy to make a final push.

Nadig sunk a bucket that started what would become a 14-2 run to victory. Two from the charity stripe for Nadig, made it 50-43. The Lady Raiders scored for the last time, 50-45. A Trina Appler freebie made it 51-45. A steal-n-score by Loogman upped the lead to 53-45, with 1:35 to play. Then, Loogman dished to Nadig for a basket, 55-45. A steal by Loogman and pass to Ilima Adams resulted in a hoop, 57-45. Thackeray finished out the scoring with three free throws, as Lost River continued to foul to the very end in a futile come back effort. The final was Etna 60-Lost River 45.

Annaleisa Nadig led all scorers with 26 points. Tandy Thackeray had 12, and Emily Loogman added 8 points.

Lost River’s leading scorer, C. Stillmen, had 17 points. Thirteen came from the line in 20 attempts. Twenty-one of Lost Rivers’ 45 points came from the charity stripe on 38 attempts. Etna was 15/29 from the line.

The Lady Lions (14-6, 4-2) host Mt. Shasta (9-8, 4-1) in an important SCL match up on Tuesday, February 2.

Etna’s JV squad ran away with their game against the Lost River JVs, 55-29.

Sarah Hoyt led Etna with 15 points. Brittany Dean put up 10 points. Marina Gutleben and Kelley Menne each contributed 8 points.