On Saturday morning, the Alliance St. Agnes junior varsity teams traveled to Harrison to play a pair of games with the Warriors. The Crusaders were pushed in both matchups but were able to come away with 2 victories. St. Agnes won the opener, the B game, 34 to 23 and then held off SC in the nightcap 40 to 39. Two Crusaders, Liam Pena and Jaden Estevane-Acosta paced SA in the opener with 10 points each while Luke Jelinek was the top scorer in the late game with 14 points.
The day started with the B game. SA was strong from the tip, scoring 10 points in period 1 to take a nice margin. Four points by Pena led the Academy offense in the period while also adding tallies for the Academy were Gage Finkey, Emerson Trumble, and Ashton Weingart. After one quarter of action, SA led Sioux County 10 to 5. Period #2 had the Academy increasing their lead with 9 more points. Six tallies by Estevane-Acosta in the period gave SA some breathing room. Another basket by Trumble and a Pena free throw accounted for the other points for the Crusaders. Heading to half, the Academy had a 19 to 11 lead.
A triple by Pena started the scoring for Alliance in the third as the Academy went up by 11. Weingart then put the Crusaders ahead by 13 with a 2 pointer. At the three minute stage, Finkey scored again and following another bucket by Pena, the Academy advantage went 13 at 28 to 15. The quarter closed with a Warrior goal and SA ahead 28 to 17. Both sides would score 6 points apiece in the fourth. Two free throws by Estevane-Acosta and goal by Trumble early in period made the score 32 to 17. A goal by Estevane-Acosta finished off the scoring for Alliance and the Crusaders went to post the win 34 to 23.
SA 10 9 9 6 34
SC 5 6 6 6 23
Scoring for the Academy Pena 10 Estvane-Acosta 10 Trumble 6 Finkey 4 Weingart 4
Action was tight throughout the second game. Alliance got off to a 5 to 0 start thanks to early points by Mason Conyers and Tee Johnson. A Sioux County hoop stopped the run but a basket by Jelinek gave the guests a 7 to 2 lead at the three minute mark. Trumble then sank a free throw and a Johnson goal gave SA a 10 to 4 lead in the final moments of the first period. The quarter came to a close with a Warrior 2 and the Academy up 10 to 6. Harrison was the aggressor in the second, outscoring the visitors 13 to 5. Four early points by the hosts tied the game at 10. A free throw by Johnson then gave the Academy a brief lead but SC answered back with the game’s next 9 point to move ahead 19 to 11. Down the stretch, Alliance got another free throw by Johnson and a big three by Weingart. At half, Sioux County led 19 to 15.
Period #3 went back and forth. Points by Jelinek and Conyers got SA to within 1 but a three pointer by the Warriors gave SC a 4 point lead. With 4 minutes showing on the clock, a Tatum Devlin bucket sliced the Academy deficit to 2. Harrison answered with 4 straight to take a 26 to 20 lead. A 6 to 0 run by the Academy followed as Alliance knotted the contest. Scoring during the spurt were Devlin, Conyers, and Jelinek. The battle went to the fourth with SC leading 30 to 28 thanks to 2 more hoops by the hosts and another basket by Jelinek.
A steal and lay up by Alliance’s Declan Kirchner was how the fourth began as SA tied the game at 30. Following a score by the Warriors, the Crusaders got the ball to Jelinek who responded with back to back goals that put Alliance up by 2. Tied at 34, another goal by Jelinek gave the Academy the lead at 36 to 34. The final minutes had the Crusaders hold off the Warriors thanks to a 2 pointer by Johnson and free throws by Weingart and Conyers. Final Alliance 40 Harrison 39.
SA 10 5 13 12 40
SC 6 13 11 9 39
Scoring for Alliance Jelinek 14 Conyers 9 Johnson 7 Weingart 4 Devlin 3 Kirchner 2 Trumble 1