Lady Tigers fourth at Hiawatha

Falls City fell to 8-12 on the season after Monday night’s 40-31 loss to Horton, KS in the third-place game of the Hiawatha Invitational.

The Lady Tigers trailed 16-10 at halftime against the Chargers and cut into the lead in the second half before Horton iced the game with free throws down the stretch.

Weather pushed the game from Saturday to  Monday evening and stats from Monday’s game were not yet available.

FC’s Baylee Vrtiska had a career night in the Lady Tigers 55-51 first round victory over Hiawatha last Tuesday. The junior point guard drilled 4-of-6 from behind the arc and single-handedly kept FC in the game early, as she accounted for 15 of the team’s  21 points in the first half. Vrtiska, who also handed out four assists, finished with a caree-high 20 points. FC trailed for most of the game, including 12-11 at the end of the first quarter, 23-21 at halftime and 39-35 after three.

Seniors Brooke Scheitel and Madison Olberding scored 12 and 11, respectively, as the two combined to hit 16 of their 23 free throws.

FC and Hiawatha were whistled for a total of 45 personal fouls, which led to 69 free-throw attempts between the teams. FC converted 10 of their 15 free throws in the final period and were 21 of 32 for the game.  

The Lady Tigers, led by Olberding’s 13, owned the boards notably on the offensive end where FC held a 12-3 advantage. Freshman Bailey Armbruster and sophomore Libby Bauman each pulled down five rebounds, while junior Jerrica Beckner tallied four blocked shots.

FC ran into a tough Marysville, KS team Thursday night in the second round and were defeated, 59-20, by the Bulldogs. Freshman Alyssa Frederick led the way with nine points for FC, who had three players foul out.  

The Lady Tigers are off until Friday when they travel to Auburn (3-13). The Lady Tigers have defeated Auburn twice this season. FC was supposed to travel to Platteview (16-1) tonight, but that game has been postponed due to weather.

Friday’s game at Auburn will tip-off at 6 p.m.

Scoring vs. Hiawatha
FC – Scheitel 12, Olberding 11, Frederick 2, S. Armbruster 5, B. Armbruster 1, Vrtiska 20, Bauman 4.