Hull, Ia (Northwest Iowa Now) – The Spencer Basketball teams traveled to Hull on Thursday night for a pair of Varsity non-conference matchups against Western Christian.
It was a slow start for both offenses in the Girls game. Spencer struggled to find open shots against the Wolfpack 1-3-1, and the Tiger Defense forced turnovers at a high rate. Western Christian led 6-4 going into the 2nd.
Spencer got down by as much as 11 points in the 3rd quarter, but a switch to a 1-2-1-1 press by the Tigers threw the offense of Western Christian off just enough for Spencer to get back within 6 going into the half.
The offense finally popped for the Tigers in the 3rd quarter, aided by some live ball turnovers forced on the defensive side. Calista Frankenstein and Lucy Simington really led the charge on both sides of the ball as the Tigers outscored Western Christian 17-9 in the 3rd quarter to take a 31-29 lead going into the 4th.
The 3-ball was falling early in the 4th quarter for Spencer, including a pair from Kennedy Graettinger, and Spencer grew their lead to 10. The Tiger offense went cold in the final few minutes though, and Western Christian widdled the Spencer lead down to only 2. Sidney Hopkins had two trips to the free throw line in the final minute, hitting all 4 tries and the Spencer defense locked down as the Tigers came away with a 49-40 win.
Western Christian falls to 1-3 on the year and were led in scoring by both Maggie Van Schepen and Bentley Bleek who each had 10 points.
Calista Frankenstein led Spencer with 15 in the win as Spencer improves to 2-1.
It was all Western Christian in the Boys game from tip to final buzzer. The Wolfpack outscored the Tigers 19-6 in the 1st, 17-4 in the 2nd, 17-13 in the 3rd, and 19-6 in the 4th as they rolled to a 72-29 win. The Wolfpack had 12 different scorers with 11 3-pointers combined on the night.
Both Preston Louters and Landon De Stigter had 15 in the win to lead Western Christian who improve to 1-1 on the year.
Spencer was led by both Larson Vulk and Shelton Bendlin in the loss as they fall to 0-2 on the new year.
Up next for Western Christian is a road trip to Algona on Friday against Bishop Garrigan. Spencer will face off with Fort Dodge for both boys and girls Friday in the Fieldhouse.
