Turner wins historic 9C game

It’s been a few years since the Turner Tornadoes girls basketball team won a game at the District 9C tournament. And that’s why the postseason win Turner notched Thursday in the 9C tournament was more meaningful than the average win in consolation play.

In addition to getting a big win for their program, the Tornadoes, who knocked off Hays-Lodge Pole 50-42 in loser-out action inside the HHS gymnasium, also stayed alive in the tournament, advancing to the next round in the consolation bracket this morning.

The Tornadoes came out and asserted themselves from the start by outscoring the Thunderbirds 16-9 in the opening quarter. In the second, HLP hung tough and trailed just 24-18 at the half.

But Turner started to pull away and built a lead as big as 10 in the fourth quarter before hanging on to win by eight. Ella Billmayer had another solid night for Turner, scoring 20 points for her second 20-point game of the tournament. She connected on eight shots from the field, including one 3-pointer. Kristina Conlan, the lone senior on the Turner squad, also came up big with 11 thanks to a pair of treys.

Rayleigh Kirkdale led the T-Birds with 11 points, while Kiara Shambo and Kenessa Shambo each had 10. HLP was eliminated from the tournament with the loss.

Also in loser-out action from Thursday morning, the fourth-seeded North Star Knights bounced back from an opening-round loss to Box Elder to knock off the Big Sandy Pioneers in convincing fashion 58-22.

The Knights kept their hopes of advancing to the Northern C divisionals alive thanks to 16 points from Mackenzie Hansen. Sheridan O’Neil also pitched in with 12 and Tylynn Rettig had eight.

Early on, the Pioneers hung around, trailing 13-4 at the end of the first quarter and 22-11 at the half. But in the third quarter, the Knights blew the game wide open with a 22-6 run that put them up 44-17 at the end of the third.

Big Sandy was eliminated with the loss. Abby Gregory was the leading scorer for the Pioneers with six points.

North Star 58, Big Sandy 22 (lo)

Big Sandy 4 7 6 5 – 22

North Star 13 9 22 14

Big Sandy – Jenna Leader 0-6 1-7 1, Andrea Rutledge 2-5 0-0 4, Jessica Roth 1-3 0-3 2, Cheyenne Johnsor 1-6 1-4 3, Abby Gregory 2-9 2-8 6, Jaylyn Cline 2-4 0-1 4, Maddy Reichelt 1-10 0-0 2. Totals: 9-47 4-23.

North Star – Mackenzie Hansen 6-18 4-6 16, Megan Kurtz 1-1 0-0 2, Jewel Wicks 1-1 0-0 2, Hali Kapperud 1-4 1-2 3, Tylynn Rettig 3-4 1-4 8, Lily Pedersen 1-5 1-2 3, Alissa Borlaug 0-6 6-8 6, Sheridan O'Neil 5-8 2-2 12, Peytan King 2-4 2-4 6. Totals: 20-53 17-28.

Halftime score: North Star 22, Big Sandy 11. 3-pointers: Big Sandy 0-8, North Star 1-8 (Rettig). Fouls: Big Sandy 20, North Star 19. Fouled out – none.

Turner 50, Hays-Lodge Pole 42 (lo)

Turner 16 8 16 10 – 50

HLP 9 9 13 11 – 42

Turner – Ella Billmayer 8-22 3-9 20, Melanie Watkins 1-4 1-2 3, Jaye Marie Anderson 2-4 0-0 4, Rennay Watkins 2-11 1-2 5, Kristina Conlan 4-17 1-4 11, Rylee Conlan 3-12 0-3. Totals: 20-77 6-22.

HLP – Kiara Shambo 4-6 2-2 10, Kenessa Shambo 4-16 0-1 10, Kayleigh Kirkdale 4-11 3-7 12, Latasha Kirkdale 1-4 1-1 3, Tia Zander 1-8 0-4 2, Miquela Perez 3-6 0-1 6. Totals: 17-51 6-16.

Halftime: Turner 24, HLP 18. 3-pointers: Turner 4-18 (Kristina Conlan 2, Rylee Conlan, Billmayer), HLP 2-14 (Kenessa Shambo). Fouls: HLP 18, Turner 16. Fouled out – none.