Knights Falter Versus Highland, Led by Bohnenstiehl Past Mascoutah
By Anthony Jones
The Lady Knights played a pair of Mississippi Valley Conference games this past week, hosting the powerhouse Highland Bulldogs for one and visiting the Mascoutah Indians for another. The squad entered the week’s slate of games with 5-2 overall record and a 3-2 conference record.
Their first opponent of the week was Highland who entered with a 6-2 overall record. They also had defeated Triad earlier in the year by a score of 61-31.
Triad grabbed the lead right off the bat as Reagan Chigas hit a three point shot. Highland did not take kindly to trailing however, as they snapped back with 11 unanswered points. Sami Hartoin would break up the Bulldog’s run with 2 points to draw closer to 11-5. But another run gave Highland a 17-5 lead at the close of the first quarter.
As the second frame opened, Highland expanded their lead to 21-5. Triad retaliated with a run of their own, scoring five points unanswered from Avery Bohnensteihl and Sami Hartoin. Their progress was erased in short order however as Highland outscored them 11-1 in the remainder of the first half.
Down 32-11, Triad’s leading scorers for the half were Bohnensteihl and Sami Hartoin at four points each. Reagan Chigas was the team’s only other scorer with three points.
Thanks to a pair of Alyssa Powell free throws, Triad kept pace with the Bulldogs at the open of the third quarter, putting the score at 34-13. Unfortunately for the Lady Knights, they would not score again in the period and the Bulldogs expanded their lead by 8.
In the fourth quarter, Triad kept pace better, but still continued to fall behind as the score became 49-19. Highland improved this lead to 53-19 by the end of the game. Top scorers for Triad were Bohnensteihl and Sami Hartoin at six a piece. Triad’s only other scorers were Powell and Reagan Chigas, who tallied 4 and 3, respectively.
Looking to return to their winning ways, the team travelled to Mascoutah for their next matchup. The two teams had faced off once earlier in the season, with Triad getting the upper hand in a 50-35 win.
The game started off balanced as both teams were tied at 2-2 early on. But the Lady Knights then exploded with an 11-0 run to build a solid lead. They maintained this lead for the remainder of the first quarter when they finished up 17-6.
The team wasted no time growing their lead in the second quarter as they opened with an 8-2 run. Mascoutah did manage to battle back and shrink the lead before the half ended, putting Triad up 29-12.
After returning from half, the Indians continued to rally. They kicked things off with a 6-0 run, trimming Triad’s lead down to 11. Triad then had a 6-2 run of their own to grow their lead back up. For the remainder of the quarter, the Lady Knights outscored them 17-5, putting them up 51-25.
The fourth quarter started off more competitive, as Triad slowly grew their lead to 59-19. They then went on a 7-2 run to grow their grasp on the game. Mascoutah did manage to finish the contest with a 8-3 run however, making the final score 69-39, in Triad’s favor.
Bohnensteihl dominated the game all night, nearly outscoring Mascoutah by herself with a final tally of 34 points. Powell had a big night as well as she tallied 15 points. 9 more points were added on by Reagan Chigas.
