C-M girls continue to trend positively

COLFAX — Amy Russell grabbed a loose ball in the middle of the free-throw lane, turned around and heaved it towards the basket at the other end of the floor in the closing seconds of a non-conference game against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont on Senior Night Monday.

The ball went through the net as time expired, and the crowd went crazy.

The 3-pointer that covered nearly the entire court didn’t affect the outcome of the game.

Despite the 55-54 loss, Colfax-Mingo coach Larry Roberts once again felt good about how his team played. The Tigerhawks fell behind by as many as 14 in the first half before rallying again in the second half.

The effort is good, and the execution at both ends is much improved from earlier in the season. Those are losses Roberts can work with.

“I thought the girls played another good game. I just think we’ve improved so much,” Roberts said. “It felt like we were running a long race and now were in a sprint. These last few games we’ve stepped up and played much better.”

Sophomore Mackensie Brown led the Tigerhawks with 13 points, four rebounds and three steals. Russell’s final heave across the court put her in double-figures with 12. She also grabbed four rebounds, dished out four assists and collected four steals.

Most of the points Brown and Russell scored came in the second half when Colfax-Mingo was outscoring the Rockets (15-4) 39-31. The Tigerhawks (5-16) trailed 24-15 at halftime.

Claire Jager buried three 3-pointers in the first quarter to give the Rockets a 14-6 cushion after one. Another bucket by Jager pushed the visitors’ lead to 24-10 late in the first half, but Colfax-Mingo got within single digits following a 3-pointer by junior Ries Wilson and a baseline jumper by Brown.

Wilson finished with seven points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

The Rockets looked they were going to pull away early in the third quarter. They improved their lead to 13 on a putback by Briana VerSteegh.

However, Colfax-Mingo scored seven of the final nine points of the period to get within nine after three quarters.

In the fourth, the Tigerhawks continued to chip away, eventually getting within three on two Brown freebies with 1:27 left. Brown brought her team within three again when she buried a 3-pointer with six seconds to go.

“I am proud of the effort. We just kept battling,” Roberts said. “They are believing that they can come back. We chipped away. We had a couple open 3-pointers that were almost down. That would have put us over the hump.”

Taryn Swartz put the game away at the other end of the floor when she hit the front end of a one-and-one to push the lead to four. She missed the second, and that’s when Russell grabbed the rebound and let it fly.

“I wish the shot would have been for the tie or the win, but it was pretty cool. I never thought that was possible,” Russell said.

Russell has become the point guard on a Colfax-Mingo team that lacks a true point guard. The Tigerhawk senior has excelled in the role down the stretch though, collecting 10 assists in the last two games.

“I just told Amy that she is going to have to be the point guard on this team,” Roberts said. “She’s developing the confidence to take the ball to the basket. She can score the ball if she wants to, but she also finds open teammates if they cut her off.”

Sophomore Payton Rhone buried three 3-pointers and scored nine points in the game, while junior McKeely Tjaden also put in nine points and grabbed three rebounds. Senior Dakota Hostetter had four points and nine rebounds.

Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 14-10-13-18 — 55

Colfax-Mingo 6-9-13-26 — 54

E-B-F (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP) — VerSteegh 7-2-3-16, Bunnell 1-0-2-2, Swartz 4/2-1-2-11, Richmond 5/1-2-2-13, Alexander 0-0-4-0, Jager 4/1-2-2-13. TOTALS 21/6-7-11-55.

Colfax-Mingo (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP) — Rhone 3/3-0-0-9, Russell 4/1-3-2-12, Brown 4/1-4-3-13, Tjaden 4-1-1-9, Wilson 2/1-2-4-7, Hostetter 2-0-3-4. TOTALS 19/6-10-13-54.