Loyola and Florence Split Doubleheader

Loyola Sacred Heart made its way down the Bitterroot Thursday night to play the Florence Falcons in a classic Class B rival match that saw the two schools splitting the night with the Rams beating the Falcons 61-53 in game one, and the Lady Falcons revenging the boys with a 66-57 win over the Breakers.

Boys Box

In game one the Falcons controlled the pace of the game in the first half with ball movement between their senior guards Tyce Pedersen and Marcus Zeller. Zeller pushed the ball to hoop and quickly put Loyola at the disadvantage, causing the Rams David Koppang and Joe McElroy to get into foul trouble early. The Falcons cruised out to an early lead, out scoring Loyola 14-7 in the first quarter off Loyola mistakes.

Loyola settled in to play with the senior stars on the bench and roared back in the second quarter on the shoulders of Jack Lincoln and Jacob Hollenback. Hollenback commanded the ram offense, setting play after play into motion, and then kept his hands active on the defensive side of the court, forcing Florence to make mistakes and turned the ball over. Lincoln’s contribution was to use the Falcons game plan against themselves and took the ball to the hoop hard, earning himself multiple trips to the free throw.

With both teams coming out of the half time break with their opening starters on the court Florence led 31-26. Koppang and McElroy returned to the court, and Loyola road the momentum from the second quarter and mounted a comeback. Koppang would find the bottom of the bucket off an outside jumper, sparking the Ram offense, and with a little over five minutes left in the third the Rams themselves with the lead for the first time on the night. When the buzzer sounded to end the third period Loyola had a four point lead.

The Rams kept their foot on the gas pedal through the fourth with Lincoln dropping a couple of clutch three pointers, and Hollenback drove the ball to the hoop and giving himself the chance at several guest appearances at the free throw line. With all their pieces on the floor the Rams dominated the second half out scoring Florence 17-8 in the third, and 18-14 in the fourth cruising to big win over the Falcons.

Girls Box

The Breakeres broke out to an early lead in the opening quarter to take an early 15-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, holding down the potent Lady Falcons offense and putting Florence on their heals on the defensive side of the court. Sydney Koppang controlled the Breaker offense, setting Tessa Burke up for the open shot, and giving Sam Clevenger the opportunity to score second chance points.

Coach Zeiler of the Lady Falcons adjusted his scheme in the second quarter and Florence began to change the momentum of the game in their favor. Junior Forward Rilee Mangun put Florence on her shoulders and owned the lane, scoring six in the second quarter in the paint, and went 6-7 in the first half from the free throw line. The games pace began to play in the favor of Florence and the Lady Falcons pulled themselves to within four at the half.

Florence came out of the break and continued to play hard ball with Danielle Zahn pressing the ball hard to the basket, and Mangun continued to own the offensive boards, scoring off second chance points. Playing a consistent game the Falcons methodically made a comeback and found themselves in the lead early in the third quarter, finishing the quarter off with 22 points.

Tessa Burke tried to swing the momentum back into the favor of Loyola with a force, leading all scorers with 23 points. Kenna Guenther would not go out quietly either, trying to take over in the paint and earning herself multiple trips to the free throw line, going 5-9 in the second half. In the end Florence’s Mangun would be to much for the breakers and the Lady Falcons would get the come from behind win.