Neighboring Rivalry

For a time in the second quarter Saturday night, it looked as if the 1A Turkey Valley girls could stay with the 3A Chickasaws.
And even early in the fourth quarter, when New Hampton owned a 20-point lead, Chickasaw coach Chad Pemble wasn’t relaxing.
“Turkey Valley is scrappy, they’ve competitive,” he said after the 70-45 win. “It just never felt like we were completely in control until late in the game. I thought it was a good, hard-fought ball game.”
By the end of the first quarter New Hampton had doubled the Trojan score, leading 16-8. A 3-point shot by TV’s Emily Busta brought the score within two at 16-14, but Bailey Knowlton matched the 3-pointer with one of her own and the Chickasaws were back up by five.
The Busta cousins teamed up as Emily threaded her way through the defense for a basket, then Breanna Busta had a steal and quick basket, cutting the Chickasaw lead to one. A putback by Katlyn Baumler gave the Trojans a 22-20 lead, but Isabel Leichtman’s 3-point shot gave New Hampton the lead for good.
“Our girls played hard and put a good run in the second quarter,” Trojan co-coach Dan Stepan said. “We are still a work in progress, New Hampton has more talent and depth at this time, those two things are hard to overcome.”
For the full story, please see the Dec. 12 Tribune.