By Fred Kroner
The St. Joseph Junior High eighth-grade girls’ basketball team improved its season record to 4-1 on Tuesday (Oct. 12) with a 28-15 triumph at Champaign Franklin.
Timera Blackburn-Kelley scored seven of her game-high 13 points in the opening quarter as the Panthers pushed into a 9-2 lead.
Kayla Oserbur netted eight points and Katie Erickson ended with three points. Scoring two points apiece were Lexi Lackey and Kaitlyn Beyers.
The Panthers bounced back from a loss in their previous game, on Thursday (Oct. 7) at Cissna Park, 38-13.
Osterbur hit a team-high eight points, including 4-for-4 from the free throw line against Cissna Park. Brooks made four points and Blackburn-Kelley had one.
The St. Joseph seventh-graders reached the win column on Tuesday (Oct. 12), prevailing at Franklin, 26-19.
Hayden Dahl had the team’s high-point game for the season, 14 points.
The teams were tied, 12-12, at halftime, but the Panthers limited Franklin to three second-half field goals and earned the win.
Teammates who contributed to the scoring column were Abigail Crider (six points), Maggie Hewkin (two points), Brynn Ikemire (two points) and Mia Jones (two points).
In the Thursday (Oct. 9) loss at Cissna Park, 29-15, Dahl scored five points. Mia Jones and Adeline Stevens each contributed three points. Crider and Iris Davis both added two points.
The seventh-grade Panthers are 1-4.
Both St. Joseph teams return to action on Thursday (Oct. 14) at home against Paxton-Buckley-Loda.
