Tough Loss to Start the Season
The Red Bud Lady Musketeers kicked off their season on Tuesday, November 16th at the Sparta Tournament. Their first match-up was against the Freeburg Lady Midgets and it was a tough one to start. In the first quarter, Red Bud dug themselves quite a hole by allowing Freeburg to put seventeen points on the board and only earning three for themselves. Those three points were contributed by sophomore, Addi Dilley, who sunk a three-pointer from the top of the key.
Pushing through in the second quarter, the Musketeers picked up the pace a little bit. The pressure on defense and quick offense of the Midgets helped them add another twelve to their score. However, Red Bud was able to put in seven. Senior Hannah Sievers had four of these points with two shots from the block. Madison Falkenhein earned the other three by performing a post move, making the shot, getting fouled in the process, and sinking her and one free throw. Walking into the locker room, the score was 10 to 29.
Again in the third, Red Bud was able to push and add a few more points than last time. However, their defense started slowing down and Freeburg took advantage of the weaknesses. They were able to add sixteen points to the board with the Lady Musketeers struggling for their nine. Sievers had two of those with a drive to the lane. Aubrey Piel and Chloe Wild each had two from layups. The last three were added by Lyla Hess with a made lay-up she was fouled on and she made the and one. Freeburg walked into the third quarter with quite the lead as the score was 19 to 45 and they did not plan on slowing down.
Red Bud again seemed to die off on the fourth. They only allowed Freeburg ten points, which is not great, but better than the other quarters. The Musketeers only added four more points to the scoreboard contributed by a two-point shot made by Sam Kolweier and Hess sinking another two free throws. Overall, the defense needs to be picked and cleaned up and the offense needs to be more aggressive. There were not enough shot attempts and Red Bud had fourteen fouls to Freeburg’s ten. There was the positive that Red Bud is shooting 100% from the free-throw line so far. The final score was 23 to 53 with Freeburg walking away with the win.
The Yellowjackets get Stung
Red Bud came out ready to fight for their win against Chester on Wednesday after their tough loss against Freeburg the night before. Sam Kolweier came out hot in the first quarter with eight points all from two-point shots. Most were from lay-up opportunities created from running the floor. Hannah Sievers had two from a jump shot at the elbow. With the Musketeer defense improving a lot from the night before, Chester was only able to put six of their own points on the board. The first quarter ended with the Musketeers having the lead in a 10 to 6 game.
In the second quarter, Red Bud’s defense got sloppy. They were reaching and not boxing out near enough. Because of this, the Yellowjackets pushed and added thirteen to their score. During this quarter, the Lady Musketeers only put six on the board. Addi Dilley, Lyla Hess, and Chloe Wild each contributed two of those points. As the two teams jogged to the locker rooms, Chester was winning 16 to 19.
The third quarter was when Red Bud decided enough was enough and they picked up the pace. The defense was cleaned up and they started to be more patient in offense. This quarter they held Chester to seven and put another ten up on the board. Sievers and Dilley each contributed four of these all from two-pointers. Alexis Koester picked up the other two points from a layup. The good defense and decent offense combination tied up the game going into the fourth at 26 to 26.
Red Bud had the momentum for most of the fourth. Their offense became quicker and smarter. They forced more turnovers, which created the many possessions it took to score their twenty points against Chester. Their defense stayed consistent, keeping the Yellowjackets to another 7 points. Sievers had eight of the twenty with a three-pointer, two lay-ups, and going one for three from the free-throw line. Dilley had four from a two-pointer and made two of her three free throws. The other eight were all two-pointers contributed by Wild, Hess, Kolweier, and Aubrey Piel. The final game score was 46 to 33 as the Lady Musketeers finished with a comfortable lead of thirteen. So far, their record is 1-1.