Axtell Girls Fall to Alma in Subdistrict Semifinals

Axtell’s girls got the postseason underway defeating Loomis 48-39 at Alma in the D1-10 subdistrict on February 13. The Cats had knocked off Loomis just six days earlier. Axtell’s offense took a little while to get untracked, scoring on just four free throws in the first six and a half minutes of the game. Conversely, Loomis made a trio of

three-pointers and led 11-6 at the end of the period.
Hannah Lienemann’s trey kick started the Cats early in the second quarter and

Emily Danburg’s three at the first half buzzer helped put Axtell up by halftime 21-16. Lexie Eckhoff had 10 points and 12 rebounds in the first half and Danburg added nine rebounds.

Kassidy Halvorsen’s three-pointer a minute into the third period gave the Cats a 24-16 lead, their largest until the final moments of the game. Loomis, however, made three more threes and a couple of free throws with no time remaining in the third and at the close of the quarter Axtell had just a 31-30 lead.

Loomis had gone ahead 34-30 at 6:45 before back-to-back-to-back buckets by Danburg, Megan Kindschuh and Halvorsen (a trey) gave the Cats a 38-34 lead. The score was tied at 39-39 at 2:49 but then a traditional three-point play and two free throws by Eckhoff on consecutive possessions put Axtell up to stay. Danburg made three free throws and Lienemann one in the final minute.

Check out February 22 edition of the Courier for the full story.