Eagles break losing streak in OT

The Eagles girls basketball team did two things they had not done since back in December: They played a game to overtime and, most importantly, they won.
SoBoCo got four consecutive free throws from Gabbie Bruce and a key bucket from Kate Ponder late in the game to defeat the Hallsville Indians by a 58-55 score in the consolation bracket of the Southern Boone Classic.
It was the Eagles’ fourth win of the season, their first since late December. The Eagles will face Harrisburg, who narrowly defeated SoBoCo in the season’s opening game, on Saturday at noon.
SoBoCo got a Lexi Ussery 3- point shot at the 3:16 mark of the fourth quarter to pull the Eagles to within one at 46-47 and a Kate Ponder free throw basket and free throw made it 49-47 before the Indians tied things up with their own free throws.
Bruce, who sat most of the fourth quarter with four fouls, put the Eagles up 53-49 early in the OT period. Carrie Ponder hit two more free throws and Kate Ponder added another for the Eagles 58-55 win.
SoBoCo put themselves in position to win the game by simply hanging on and never letting Hallsville break the game open in the first half.
Both teams played a sloppy game, with more turnovers than points in the first minutes.
The Indians broke into the lead in the second quarter after a 17-17 first quarter. Hallsville went on an 11-3 run and led at 28-20 at half.
The Eagles looked as though they were ready to pack it in when they still trailed by 7 at the 3:56 mark of the third quarter, but baskets by Bruce and Dani Post, a 3-pointer by Kate Ponder and a suddenly energetic Eagles press helped SoBoCo go on an 11-4 run to tie the game at 36-36 at the end of three periods.
Bruce led the Eagles with 17 points, Kate Ponder had 14 and Post scored 10 points.

The Eagles Varsity Girls will play Harrisburg at noon on Saturday.