Lady Indians fall to Big Springs

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: December 29, 2021

Big Spring 46, Juniata 31

MIFFLINTOWN – Juniata struggled to get its shots to fall and turnovers led to a 46-31 loss to Big Spring in a non-League girls basketball game on Tuesday.

Defense was the name of the game as neither Juniata or Big Spring were able to get into rhythm on the offensive side of the ball early on in the opening quarter of the game.
But as the period went on, both teams finally got things to settle down and got going on offense. For the Bulldogs they found scoring from five different players on the floor. While for the Indians Mackenzie Bennett led the charge and kept the game close scoring eight of the teamás 11 points in the frame.

Much like in the first quarter of the game, both teams struggled offensively with neither team being able to score a bucket. But unlike the last quarter, Juniata continued to miss its shot opportunities in large part thanks to the tough physical defense of Big Spring who forced turnovers leading to easy buckets. The Bulldogs were also creating second chance opportunities as well in the frame. Juniata was outscored 14-5 for the second quarter giving Big Spring a 26-16 lead at the break.

The tough physical play continued on the defensive side of the ball for the Bulldogs during the third quarter of the game forcing Juniata into turnovers and quickly went on the run for some fast break points.

Laney Noreika went off for Big Spring in the period scoring 10 of the teamás 14 points in the frame while the Indians were held to just four points.

But the Indians continued to battle it out with the Bulldogs as they began attacking the basket and catching Big Spring into some foul trouble. Juniata made six out of eight attempts from the free throw line during the period. The Indians had outscored Big Spring 11-6 for the period. The Bulldogs also had more fouls in the fourth quarter than they did points with seven team fouls.

Bennett did the best she could for the Indians leading with a team high of 15 points for the evening. Regan Lowrey and Ava Shearer were not able to be on the floor nearly as much as they could due to foul troubles. Both Lowrey and Shearer each had four fouls for the night.

With this loss, Juniata is now (4-2) overall and (3-0) in the Tri-Valley League. The Indians will travel to face Line Mountain on Monday.