Tornadoes grind out 48-44 win

It would be a close game most of the night, but the Columbian Tornadoes edged the Kenton Wildcats at home 48-44 in non conference play Tuesday. The Tornadoes (7-8) ended the first quarter leading by two, lose traction by halftime and be down by three points, to closing the gap by the third, and pulling ahead in the fourth. "I thought they did a great job hustling. We had a couple players step up and make some big time plays for us tonight." said Columbian coach Jaycie Foos. The major players for the Tornadoes was Maggie Rannigan with 15 points, Lexi Beaston with 13 points and Marissa Allen for eight points. The top scorer for Kenton was Sadie Larrabee with 20 points. "Especially our freshman, Lexi Beaston, I thought she stepped up and played. Made some heads up plays that aren't typical of a freshman, so I was really proud of her and happy to see that." Foos said while also acknowledging Beaston's big plays and her strengths. "Yep, Lexi's a good shooter for us, and she was playing confident tonight. So, I was happy to see some go in for her, but I thought the most important play she made was at the end of the game with her free throws, and then being aware enough to go up and grab that ball and end it for us." The first half, the Tornadoes only scored 15 points. The first quarter was nine points, which was from a combination of Rannigan scoring one trey and two baskets, while Beaston scored on two free throws. The second quarter was only six points more, and those came from a trey from Beaston, a basket from Allen and a free throw from Maddy Richie. The Wildcats scored seven points in the first quarter. Larrabee had five of those points, with two baskets and one point on a free throws, and a basket from Kyla Bostater. The Tornadoes would only let them score another 11 points in the second quarter, Larrabee with seven points between three baskets and a free throw, while Sidney Payne and Heckathorn had one bucket each. By halftime, the Wildcats led 18-15. The Tornadoes would score 17 points in the third quarter while the Wildcats would score only 15 points. Between Rannigan swishing two 3-point shots and a basket, Mia Zeis scoring on an assist from Rannigan, a 3-pointer from Allen and a basket each from Beaston and Kancler. The Wildcats scorers would be Larrabee with six points, a basket from Kinze Sprang, a free throw from Bostate, two baskets from Heckathorn and two free throws from Alexis Ratliff. In the third quarter, Columbian was one point behind Kenton 33-32. The fourth quarter is what made the determination. After Sidney Payne for Kenton shot a basket, Zeis would shoot two from the foul line, and with five minutes left in the fourth, the Tornadoes were right behind Kenton 35-34. Allen would make a 3-point shot for the Tornadoes after they regained possession of the ball which would break the tie and put them at 37. Kenton responded back with a basket by Olivia Nolting, which would tie it back up again. Beaston scored with a little over four minutes left in the game with two points to break the tie. Larrabee would tie the game again with two foul shots. After a jumpball, Beaston would score a trey that would break the 39-39 deadlock to bring the score to 42-39. Payne would score again with a putback for two points, and bringing the Wildcats within a one point range. Zeis would score on a one point free throw, and then Payne would tie it up again with the teams at 43 each with 1:40 left in the game. Abbie Felske then scored her lone basket of the night, bringing the Tornadoes to 45, breaking the tie once again. With 1:04 left, Beaston would made a foul shot, bringing it to 46. Columbian called a full timeout, and Kenton's Macee Heckathorn would score the final point for the Wildcats. With three seconds remaining, the Wildcats would foul, causing the teams to be able to shoot two each for the remaining time, allowing Kancler to shoot two free throws. After her shot, Beaston rebounded the ball and held onto it, all but ensuring the Tornadoes were victorious. "Well, I think overall, I don't think we hit one shot outside of the lane the entire game. I don't think we had any threes. I think we struggled, which we struggled two years ago here too," Wildcats coach Jay Bostelman said. "But, we struggled to hit shots. Everybody played hard. They got a good team, good guards, they shot the ball well. I think that was probably the difference in the game. "They did hit those, and we did not. You know, we just couldn't finish there in the end. We had to open drives. We just, we didn't hit shots and, you know, they're guards hit shots when they needed it."Heading to Perkins Saturday, Foos said the following: "We have another league match with Perkins. It'll be a tough game. Perkins is a great team, so I'm looking forward to it."