Sports
Lancers Struggle Early On
By: Will Collins
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A year ago, it seemed as if the Federal Hocking Lancer basketball program was finally hitting its stride.
The Lady Lancers were coming off of multiple league wins in a row, and the Lancers were coming off of their two wins against South Gallia and Wahama, but this season has been a bit of a different story.
So far this season, the Lady Lancers are 2-7, 2-4 in the TVC-Hocking, and the Lancers are 0-7, 0-5.
Lady Lancers
Through the first nine games, the Lady Lancers have had their ups and downs, they’ve notched two wins, and have been in some close games.
On Dec. 10 and 13, the Lady Lancers hosted the Belpre Lady Golden Eagles, and the Waterford Lady Wildcats. Federal Hocking was defeated by just six, 50-44 in their game against Belpre, but Waterford won handily in their matchup, 55-30.
After a four day break, the Lady Lancers traveled to Wahama to take on the Lady White Falcons on Dec. 17 in a TVC-Hocking Contest.
In the first quarter the Lady Lancers were held scoreless by Wahama, who jumped out to a 10 to nothing advantage.
In the second quarter the Lady Lancers were able to hit three big 3-pointers, but Wahama scored nine points of their own to go into the break up 10.
A scoring surge in the third quarter from Wahama saw the Lady White Falcons build their cushion up as they took a comfortable 39-21 lead over Federal Hocking.
Paige Tolson, who was held scoreless in the first half, scored 17 points in the second half to try and rally her Lady Lancers, but ultimately Federal Hocking would run out of time, and lose by 13, 57-44.
The Lady Lancers were led in scoring by Tolson, who had 17, and she was followed by teammates Brennah Jarvis and Kylie Tabler, who had eight points each.
In their next contest, the Lady Lancers returned home to play an overtime thriller with the Trimble Lady Tomcats.
In a game that was led for the majority by the Lady Tomcats, the Lady Lancers would not go away quietly. Both squads were young, starting a combined six freshman and three sophomores.
After the first quarter the Lady Tomcats led by three 13-10, and took a 26-19 lead into the break. Emma Beha led the Lancers with 11 points in the first half.
The second half is where the Lancers began to come alive though, and their offense began to fire on all cylinders. Kylie Tabler, Emma Beha, and Paige Tolson started to make key plays for Fed Hock, but they found themselves down seven going into the final quarter.
In the final quarter the Lady Lancers were able to erase the seven point deficit and take a 47-44 lead with seconds left in the game. The Lady Tomcats said not so fast though, as they forced overtime with a big 3-pointer. A last second look by Brennah Jarvis went off the rim, and the game went into overtime.
In overtime, the Lady Tomcats scored first, and never relinquished the lead. Despite bringing it within three with just under a minute left, Kylie Tabler’s five 3-pointers and the Lady Lancers efforts weren’t enough to get past the Lady Tomcats, who won by two, 57-55.
Lancers
This season has been a struggle early on for the Lancers. The Lancers have played some good basketball teams, like the Alexander Spartans, which was a game that they were in until the fourth quarter.
But since that matchup with the Spartans, the Lancers haven’t been able to quite get going, losing contests against Southern, South Gallia, Wellston, Belpre, who they beat last season, and Waterford.
On Dec. 11 the Lancers played host to the Southern Tornadoes, who defeated the Lancers by 12 behind a strong offensive performance, 58-46.
On Dec. 14 the Lancers traveled to South Gallia to take on the Rebels. Starting the first quarter off strong, the Lancers scored the first six points of the game in a 10-2 run. Then the Rebels came storming back, scoring the next five points before a Lancer bucket to end the quarter. The Lancers led 12-7 after the first.
In the second quarter Federal Hocking would score the first two buckets, but would be held without a point from the field in the remainder of the half. The Rebels would go on an 11-2 run, taking a 20-18 lead into halftime.
In the second half South Gallia never let go of the lead, and were able to effectively snuff out any Lancer attempts to retake it.
After three 3-pointers in the third, the Rebels held a 38-31 lead, and made their lead double-digits with a 6-3 run to start the final quarter.
In the fourth, the Lancers did their best to come back, cutting the South Gallia lead to just six with just under six minutes to play, but they couldn’t overcome the Rebels, who closed the game on 14-9 run, with the final being a 10 point South Gallia victory 58-48.
Despite the loss, Brad Russell contributed a double-double for the Lancers with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Hunter Smith added 12 points of his own.
The next day, Dec. 15, the Lancers took on non-league opponent, the Wellston Golden Rockets at home, and were beaten 61-53.
On December 18th, the Lancers hosted league opponent Belpre at home, and lost in a close game 48-46, after beating the Golden Eagles in their first matchup last season, which would be one of Federal Hocking’s two wins. Despite great play in both halves, the Lancers weren’t able to come away with the victory in McInturf Gymnasium.
In their final game before a short Christmas break, the Lancers took on the Waterford Wildcats. The Wildcats led the Lancers 9-4 after one, and 26-13 at halftime.
The Lancers showed life in the third quarter, cutting the Waterford lead to seven, 38-31. The Wildcats were able to use a strong fourth quarter where they scored 18 points to the Lancers’ 10 to pull away 56-41. Hunter Smith did his best to keep the Lancers in the contest with 15 points on the night, Ian Miller added 10.
The Lady Lancers will be back in action after the New Year on Jan. 3 when they host Eastern, and the Lancers will be back in action on Friday, Dec. 28 when they travel to Berne Union.