It’s been a pretty solid year for Kingsland basketball. Girls (15-9) and boys (13-9) teams could both finish above five-hundred. Chatfield’s squads (boys 5-15, girls 3-20) won’t. But for one night, they besieged Kingsland with a couple upsets. The Gopher boys hit their first seven, 16 of their first 19, and 22 of 30 first half field goals (10-15 threes) for a 54-33 halftime lead. Putting up a season-high points (11-20 three’s, 32-52 FGs), Chatfield beat Kingsland 78-65. Parker Fossum (14 pts, 5-6 FGs, 4-4 threes, 6 assists), Alex Hompe (14 pts), Brandon Ebnet (12 pts, 4-6 threes), Nick Maki (10 pts, 4-4 FGs), Jason Lowrey (9 pts, 4-5 FGs), and Dillon Bance (8 pts, 9 assists) gave the Gophers a most balanced-effort. Zach Buchholtz (21 pts, 6-6 FTs) and Wyatt Pruter (14 pts) led Kingsland. The Knights did hit 17 of 19 free throws. The girls game was wild and down to the wire. Chatfield led 11-3 to start. Kingsland ran before (9-1) and after (7-1) halftime to lead 27-19. Three three’s by Megan Hopp began a 15-0 (34-27) slash 21-4 Gopher spurt. Chatfield led 42-33 with under two. Kingsland then went 12-2. A Lauren Buchholtz three, a steal, and a Gracie Schmidt lay-up made it 45-44 Knights (0:13)! Belle Berg was then fouled (0:06). The Gopher sophomore sank two free throws. Buchholtz missed a hurried 15-footer before the horn. Chatfield grabbed its biggest win of the year 46-45, avenging a 59-23 December loss and ending a 7-game skid. Macy Pederson (14 pts, 6-6 FTs), Hopp (12 pts, 4-6 threes), Mariah Bell (8 pts, 8 rebs), and Berg (3 pts, GW-FT’s, 10 rebs) led the way. G-Schmidt (14 pts, 8 rebs), Kailey Link (12 pts), and Buchholtz (11 pts, 9 rebs) led Kingsland. Knight starting back-court Alayna Meskill and Courtney Schmidt did not play (injuries).
Knights Castle Besieged by Gophers
