Carleigh Paup leading 1A girls in scoring
The Paton-Churdan girls lost to Exira-EHK in Exira Friday night and won over West Harrison in Churdan Saturday afternoon. It was the second game against each team this season, and the results were the same in both instances.
The Rockets lost to the Exira-EHK Hawks 65-53. “This was another well played game for our girls against the #2 team in the state,” coach Chris Petersen said. “The game was much closer than the final score. We played a very complete game with the exception of about two minutes at the end of the third quarter where we allowed a nine point run.”
The score after one quarter of play was 20-12 for the Hawks, but the Rockets outscored the Hawks by six points in the second quarter to trail by only two points, 31-29, at halftime. With the nine point run in the third quarter the score at the end of three was 52-42. The Rockets scored 11 points to the Hawks’ 13 in the final quarter for the final score of 65-53.
“I was extremely pleased with our fight and effort as we battled all four quarters,” the coach said.
Carleigh Paup, who leads Class 1A girls in scoring with a season average of 23.8 points per game, led the Rockets in scoring against Exira-EHK with 25 points. She also led in steals with seven. Sydney Koch had 11 points and led in blocks with four. Jenna Beyers and Grace Geisler both scored six points and Kasey Lane added two. Beyers led in rebounds with 11.
The Rockets hosted West Harrison and beat the Spartans for the second time this season, this time by a 77-41 score.
“The girls did a great job of bouncing back after a tough loss to Exira-EHK. They were able to control the tempo and push the ball up the court to get points in transition,” Petersen said.
The Rockets were ahead 20-9 after one quarter, 48-21 at halftime, and 59-26 after three quarters.
“Carleigh Paup and Sydney Koch played very well in sync and put up some big numbers throughout this game,” the coach said.
Paup scored 36 points and was credited with six steals and five assists. Koch scored 18 points and had 12 rebounds, 11 steals and five assists. Koch’s 11 steals is the second highest in Class 1A this season.
Geisler had nine points, Beyers had seven points and Lane had four points. Reilly Niles had three points and eight rebounds.
“This was a great way for the girls to finish off a week of very well played basketball,” Petersen said.
