Game #5 on the 2024 basketball season for the Alliance St. Agnes Academy junior high girl’s team had the Crusaders traveling to Hay Springs to take on the Hawks. Eighteen first period points were more than enough for the Lady Crusaders in defeating the hosts 47 to 5. With the victory, Alliance now sees their record improve to 4 and 1 on the year. Top scorer for the Crusaders was Reese Armstrong who scored 11 points while Penn Vergil added 9 points. St. Agnes also got the win in the 2 quarter JV match up. The Crusaders topped the Hawks 7 to 6 with Alliance’s Delaney Jelinek scoring all seven of the Crusaders points. The junior varsity’s record is now 3 and 2.
Six big first period points by Alliance’s Maslin Breen got St. Agnes off to a good start. The Lady Crusaders also got 5 early point by Vergil to build a big lead. Adding buckets in the first 6 minutes of play were Kale Hulquist and Armstrong while Crusader Aubree Shrewsbury tallied three points in the quarter. Meanwhile, SA’s defense was tough, limiting the Hawks to just one free throw in the period. After one quarter of play, Alliance led 18 to 1. Defense was again solid for St. Agnes in the second as Hay Springs would tallying no scores. On offense, the Lady Crusaders put 8 more points in the scoring column in period #2. Two pointers from Shrewsbury, Armstrong, and Hulquist helped Alliance maintain their margin. A pair of free throws by Breen ended the scoring with St. Agnes taking 26 to 1 lead at halftime.
In the third, St. Agnes increased its advantage with 13 more points. Armstrong led the Alliance offense with 7 points in the quarter with a three pointer and a pair of two point goals. The other 6 points came on 2 point hoops by Shrewsbury, Vergil, and Hulquist. Hay Springs would finally break thru with their first bucket in period three but heading to the final quarter, the Alliance lead stood at 39 to 3. In the fourth period, the Lady Crusader held the Hawks again to just 2 points. St. Agnes would score 8 points in the final 6 minutes of action to boost its lead. The Crusaders received 4 points by Alexis Shelmadine and 2 points each by Stella Beck and Vergil to finish off the hosts. Final St. Agnes 47 Hay Springs 5
ALL 18 8 13 8 47
HS 1 0 2 2 5
Scoring Armstrong 11 Vergil 9 Breen 8 Shrewsbury 7 Hulquist 6 Shelmadine 4 Beck 2
In the junior varsity contest, points were tough to come by. The match up was just a 2 quarter affair that saw the Hawks tally 4 points in the opening period and lead 4 to 3. Jelinek had all three points for Alliance on a 2 pointer and a free throw. Play remained tight in the second. The hosts were held to just 2 points while 2 more buckets by Jelinek were the difference. Final St. Agnes 7 Hay Spring 6.
ALL 3 4 7
HS 4 2 6
St. Agnes will be at home for their next 2 games. On Tuesday, December 3 the Crusaders host Scottsbluff while on Thursday, December 5, St. Agnes will play Lusk at home. Both games will start at 4:00.