Lady Colts enter playoff hunt

By Emily Panter
Springfield Beacon

Afer a key win over the Churchill Lancers on Tuesday, Feb. 5, the Thurston Colts girls basketball team has moved itself into the playoff hunt. The 50-46 win puts the Colts in fourth place in the Midwestern League.
The opening quarter got out to an even start, with neither team able to pull far ahead of the other. The Colts did manage a four point lead with under a minute remaining after Natalie Smith had a great spin move in the key for the basket, but Churchill would respond to close the gap 8-6 at the buzzer.
Thurston dug in hard in the second, taking a 17-11 lead after Whitney Hughes passed the ball to Courtney Welling for a three-pointer. Two successful free throws by Hughes would expand their lead 19-12 to end the first half.
Showing that they deserve their second place position in the MWL, the Lancers put together a strong attack in the third. They managed to close the gap to three with just a few seconds remaining, although they would find themselves with the final posession of the quarter down at the Thurston goal. Churchill’s Susan Smith would keep the inbounds pass to go the length of the court. With three seconds remaining she attempted the final shot well outside the arch, which left the crowd wondering why she didn’t attempt to get closer first. But apparently she knew her range perfectly, and sunk the basket to tie the score at 31-31.
Churchill would take their second, and final, lead of the game at the start of the fourth. Thurston quickly nixed that idea, taking an early six point lead after a successful free throw attempt, a rebound by Brittney Burroughs and a three-pointer by Natalie Smith. However, the Colts would find themselves in foul trouble in the fourth, finding themselves with seven fouls to Churchill’s four. The Lancers came back within one, but Thurston managed clinch the victory after Elise Nelson sunk two at the line to go up by eight. Despite eight free throw opportunities for the Lancers in the final 30 seconds, they weren’t able to capitalize on their chances and Thurston would get the win.
The Colts, which now sit 6 1/2 games out of first and just 1/2 out of third, were supposed to play at Marshfield on Thursday, Feb. 7. However, that was a different date than originally scheduled and due to a communication error, the game was not played. That game will be made up on Saturday, Feb. 23 at Coos Bay. Because of the change, the Pirates game against the Millers on Feb. 22 has been moved up a day to Feb. 21. Both games with be played at 7 p.m.