FOUNTAIN LAKE -- Fountain Lake's senior girls' basketball team earned half of its points at the free throw line Tuesday, including 10 in the fourth quarter, to hold on for a 44-41 win over Jessieville at Irvin J. Bass Gymnasium-Sammy Lambert Court.
The team's contrasted each other's fates one free throws line. Fountain Lake shot 22-for-36, 61 percent, on free throws for the game and 10-for-17 in the fourth quarter.
"Our defensive effort and our rebounding is what carried us through," said Chris Mungle, head coach of the Lady Cobras. "We've really struggled from the free throw line in some recent games. We came up and hit a lot of big free throws tonight that really helped us."
Jessieville only shot five free throws in the first half. The team finished 9-for-21 for the game.
"We knew that we shot free throws poorly and we have been shooting them better," said Magen Scrivner, head coach for Jessieville. "It was a three-point ballgame. That was a big factor in the game."
Jessieville sophomore Taryn Anderson opened the scoring with a 3-pointer in the first quarter. Fountain Lake senior Molly Breshears and Lyndsey Blees scored back-to-back buckets to give the Lady Cobras the lead less than two minutes into the game.
They would not relinquish the lead again until the fourth quarter. Another three by Anderson about a minute into the final quarter put Jessieville ahead 30-29. A basket by Breshears shortly after put Fountain Lake ahead for good.
Senior Isabelle Baker made 4 of 5 free throws in the fourth quarter to help Fountain Lake maintain the lead. She shot 10-for-13 for the game and led all scorers with 14 points.
"We've got to be aggressive and not settle for outside shots," Mungle said. "We've got to attack the rim. We play good defense and are in a lot of basketball games, but we've got to try to manufacture some points.
"It is a concerted effort for us to try to attack the rim, to try to get to the free throw line and we can get some easy points from free throws. We did a really good job of that tonight."
Breshears and sophomore Jill Norman led all other scorers with 13 points apiece. Blees was the only other player for Fountain Lake to score, adding four points.
"We do not have someone who is going to go out every night and get that 15 or 20 points, but we have several kids that on any given night can get 10 or 12," Mungle said. "We really have to be a team-oriented team to win basketball games."
Fountain Lake led by as much as 10 points late in the second quarter. Anderson pulled up for a 40-foot shot as the buzzer sounded for halftime and sank one of her four 3-pointers on the night to cut the lead to 21-14.
"We would get a lead built up and we kept having some turnovers," Mungle said. "We would give them some easy buckets and let them back in it, but the girls' effort was really good defensively. They did a really good job on the boards and we were giving up some size to them."
Anderson and senior Makayla Wilson tied for the team lead with 12 points each. Sophomore starter Lilliana Fehrenbacher added five points.
Jessieville battled foul trouble throughout the game. Juniors Jaidyn Fortenberry and Amy de Haas came off of the bench to add six points and multiple steals.
"They come in with tremendous effort and they are great defensive players," Scrivner said. "They bring a lot to our defense."
Both teams struggled from the field in the first half. The Lady Lions pressured Fountain Lake's ball handlers, but still trailed 13-9.
"We try to let our defense create our offense," Scrivner said. "I felt like we did not come out with the intensity, defensively, in the first quarter. We try to give less than 40 points a game. We gave too much to them. If we would have come out intensity-wise in the first half, I feel like it would have been a different ball game."
Fountain Lake (3-5) is scheduled to be on the road Friday at Bismarck. Jessieville (1-6) is scheduled to play Friday at home against Centerpoint.
Sports on 12/07/2017