SWAN VALLEY - After a season opening win, the Swan Valley Warhawks “A” team experienced a close game with Helmville Jan. 12 but were two points short. The B team showed progress but also fell to Helmville 12-28. They traveled to Avon Jan. 14 to face the Blackfoot Valley League defending champions. They came away with two wins.
Versus Helmville
The team from Helmville took advantage of their significant height advantage at 2 positions and jumped out to a 2 to 14 point lead in the first quarter of the A game. The determined Warhawks scrapped back to a 5-point deficit at half time, 16 to 21. The Swan Valley athletes outscored the opponents by a total of 3 points in the second half but came up short by 2 points for a 28-30 final score.
The Warhawks played a very tough, hustling, defensive game but marginal shooting in the first and third quarters could not overcome the 2-point difference in the game.
Seth Richardson and Nick Bedson led the Warhawks with 8 points each, Rose Mercer and Aspen Conley tallied 4 each with Kyla Conley and Connor Matthew scoring 2 each. “A lot of positive things happened, especially coming from behind and the strong defensive rebounding that kept us in the game”, commented the coaches, Ken Donovan, Chris Achenbach and John Tapp.
The “B” squad game showed progress in passing, dribbling and team play by the Swan Valley underclassmen. However a much taller and experienced Helmville team cruised to a 12-28 win.
“We are working on improving our fundamental game and the coaching staff saw several areas where progress is being made,” said coach Chris Achenbach. “Our kids are working very hard and are learning skills that will make them very competitive in the rest of the season and into the future.”
Trista Alexander led the team in scoring with 6 points followed by Levi Webb with 4 and Christopher Achenbach with 2.
Versus Avon
Facing a much taller and bigger Avon team, the Warhawks’ “A” squad capitalized on quickness and good shooting to edge the Elks 45-43. Leading by a score of 27 to 19 at half time, the local kids held on for the two-point win. Avon has a well-coached and tough team but a real team effort by the Warhawks preserved the win.
“Their size on the inside and their outside shooting kept Avon in the game but our kids hustled and played hard down to the last second for the win,” said the coaches Donovan, Achenbach and Tapp.
The Warhawks were led in scoring by Aspen Conley with 15 points followed by Seth Richardson with 10 and Rose Mercer scored 8. Nick Bedson and Connor Mathew scored 6 each.
The “B” squad won their first game of the season showing vast improvement for the season. After four quarters of play, the score was tied 29 to 29 going into overtime. Baskets by Trista Alexander and Darby Gleason in the overtime won the game by 2 points, 33-31.
Good, tough defense and selective shooting by the “B” squad set the tone for the overtime win. Balanced scoring and the use of good fundamentals of team play, highlighted the efforts of everyone with this exciting win.
Coach Achenbach was pleased with the effort and focus of the team for the win.
Leading the scoring was Trista Alexander with 15 points followed by Kase Anderson with 8, 4 by Darby Gleason and 2 points each by Lilly Boyd, Levi Webb and Chris Achenbach.
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