Despite beating Baxter Springs by double-digits twice this season, the Frontenac girls’ basketball team prepared for a tough test Friday night against the Lady Lions.
A tough test they got.
Tough, feisty defense by both teams led to a relatively low-scoring game, but despite scoring well under their per game average, the Lady Raiders escaped with a 36-31 win on senior night at FHS.
Frontenac senior Emily Barto scored a game-high 13 points for the Lady Raiders, who were averaging around 50 points per game as a team heading into Friday’s contest. Meghan Winden was FHS’s next highest scorer with 6.
The Lady Lions had only four players score on the night, led by Alexis Haase’s 10 points. Alayna Von Moss added 9, Lanina Spence scored 8 and Ashleigh Grimes notched 4 points for Baxter.
Frontenac (14-5, 5-2 CNC) led 17-11 at halftime after a first half that was relatively quiet compared to the final two quarters. Early in the third, a questionable foul call on FHS’s Jennifer Long seemed to ignite both teams — as well as the crowd — and both teams seemed to play with a new intensity the rest of the game. Baxter outscored Frontenac 14-10 in the third to pull to within two heading into the fourth.
That’s when things got a little testy. With his team leading by three with 2:38 to play, Frontenac coach Jeremy Rakes picked up a technical foul for arguing a foul call. Because the Raiders had already committed more than 10 team fouls, Baxter’s Spence got two free throw attempts for both the personal and the technical fouls. She hit three of four to knot the score at 31.
Moments later, Barto hit two free throws to take back the lead for the Raiders. With 45 seconds to play, Frontenac’s Amanda Cicero hit two free throws of her own to give her team a four-point lead. Barto’s late free throw and a stingy defense put the cap on the Raiders’ win. Taylor Seward, FHS sophomore, snared two crucial offensive rebounds late in the game to help her team run some clock and come away with the win.
“This was an intense game,” Rakes said. “They were battling, we were battling. This was our third time playing them, but no matter what the earlier results were, anything’s possible. Emotions were pretty high tonight, but I thought our girls did a good job of overcoming some early adversity.”
While not one to make excuses, Rakes said not having school Friday may have taken a toll on his team’s early execution.
“The girls did not have their normal routine,” he said. “We had a shoot-around, got them out of bed, but the girls came out flat tonight.”
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Despite beating Baxter Springs by double-digits twice this season, the Frontenac girls’ basketball team prepared for a tough test Friday night against the Lady Lions.
A tough test they got.
Tough, feisty defense by both teams led to a relatively low-scoring game, but despite scoring well under their per game average, the Lady Raiders escaped with a 36-31 win on senior night at FHS.
Frontenac senior Emily Barto scored a game-high 13 points for the Lady Raiders, who were averaging around 50 points per game as a team heading into Friday’s contest. Meghan Winden was FHS’s next highest scorer with 6.
The Lady Lions had only four players score on the night, led by Alexis Haase’s 10 points. Alayna Von Moss added 9, Lanina Spence scored 8 and Ashleigh Grimes notched 4 points for Baxter.
Frontenac (14-5, 5-2 CNC) led 17-11 at halftime after a first half that was relatively quiet compared to the final two quarters. Early in the third, a questionable foul call on FHS’s Jennifer Long seemed to ignite both teams — as well as the crowd — and both teams seemed to play with a new intensity the rest of the game. Baxter outscored Frontenac 14-10 in the third to pull to within two heading into the fourth.
That’s when things got a little testy. With his team leading by three with 2:38 to play, Frontenac coach Jeremy Rakes picked up a technical foul for arguing a foul call. Because the Raiders had already committed more than 10 team fouls, Baxter’s Spence got two free throw attempts for both the personal and the technical fouls. She hit three of four to knot the score at 31.
Moments later, Barto hit two free throws to take back the lead for the Raiders. With 45 seconds to play, Frontenac’s Amanda Cicero hit two free throws of her own to give her team a four-point lead. Barto’s late free throw and a stingy defense put the cap on the Raiders’ win. Taylor Seward, FHS sophomore, snared two crucial offensive rebounds late in the game to help her team run some clock and come away with the win.
“This was an intense game,” Rakes said. “They were battling, we were battling. This was our third time playing them, but no matter what the earlier results were, anything’s possible. Emotions were pretty high tonight, but I thought our girls did a good job of overcoming some early adversity.”
While not one to make excuses, Rakes said not having school Friday may have taken a toll on his team’s early execution.
“The girls did not have their normal routine,” he said. “We had a shoot-around, got them out of bed, but the girls came out flat tonight.”
Baxter boys beat Frontenac
The Frontenac boys’ basketball team trailed by nine after one quarter Friday against Baxter Springs and could never recover, dropping the home contest 43-32.
Eight players scored for the Raiders, with Buster Reddick leading the way with 7 points. Keaton Brown and Devon Keith each scored 5.
Baxter was paced by Tyler Underhill, who scored a game-high 17 points, 14 of which were scored in the first half. Weston Taconis added 10.
The Lions scored early and often in the first quarter on tough layups and a corner three-pointer by Underhill. Baxter extended its lead to 24-12 by halftime. The Lions stretched their lead to as much as 17 points in the third quarter. The Raiders then went on a 15-7 run to pull to within nine points in the fourth quarter.
Frontenac (2-17, 0-7 CNC) struggled to knock in open shots, however, and Baxter scored just enough down the stretch to pull out the win.
Both Raider teams will travel to Riverton Monday to play a make-up game.
Frontenac girls 36, Baxter 31
Baxter 3 8 14 6 — 31
Frontenac 8 9 10 9 — 36
BAXTER (31) — Alexis Haase 10, Alayna Von Moss 9, Lanina Spence 8, Ashleigh Grimes 4. Total: 31
FRONTENAC (36) — Emily Barto 13, Amanda Cicero 6, Meghan Winden 6, Taylor Seward 3, Katlie Brynds 2, Lindsay Gorham 2, Jennifer Long 2, Libby Warrick 2. Total: 36
Baxter boys 43, Frontenac 32
Baxter 13 11 10 9 — 43
Frontenac 4 8 7 13 — 32
BAXTER (43) — Tyler Underhill 17, Weston Taconis 10, Drew Bilke 9, Austin Karnes 5, Colton Krokroskia 2. Total: 43.
FRONTENAC (32) — Buster Reddick 7, Keaton Brown 5, Devon Keith 5, Keith Lollar 4, Robert Seward 3, Gage Tindell 3, Shannon Wiseman 3, Justin Jones 2. Total: 32
