Okoboji pulled out a thrilling 48-47 victory over Boyden-Hull on Friday night on a free throw by Carly Carstens with :01.8 left in the game. Okoboji jumped out to a 10-4 lead, but Boyden-Hull would go on an 8-2 run to pull even at the end of the quarter. Okoboji had a 21-19 lead with 3:00 left in the second quarter before going on a 5-0 run to end the half and take a 26-19 lead into halftime. The Comets, however, would not go away and pulled even at 28-28 with 2:00 left in the third quarter but the Pioneers would answer with a 6-0 run to take a 34-28 lead into the final quarter. Okoboji pushed the lead to 43-33 with 5:00 left but the Comets would have a four-point possession to get right back in the game. Okoboji clung to a 47-45 lead late but a basket by Jenny Luevano tied the game with :06 left before Carstens would get fouled attacking the basket and would give the Pioneers the victory by making the first free throw. Lynnae Abrahamson led the Pioneers with 13 points, Carstens added 10 points, Olivia Lorenzen chipped in with 7 points, Ava Packebush had 5 assists and Zoey Holmes led Okoboji with 8 rebounds to go along with 6 points. Ashtyn Kelderman led Boyden-Hull with 16 points, Luevano added 12 points and Avery Noble finished with 10 points. Okoboji improves to 9-12 on the season while Boyden-Hull falls to 4-15. The Pioneers honored their five senior players, Lynnae Abrahamson, Carly Carstens, Makenna Helmers, Olivia Lorenzen and Emma Wittrock and three managers, Jazmyn Hallow, Amy Martin and Mallory Mosher before the game.
Quotes from John Adams
“Give Boyden-Hull credit, they would not go away tonight and just kept battling. Carly’s free throw was huge; she really gets the game of basketball as we had her miss the second one intentionally so they couldn’t set up a play, and she missed it perfectly off the rim. Lynnae hit some big shots for us, Zoey did a great job of running the floor and finishing in transition, Liv hit some big shots in the second half, and the girls found a way to get some big stops when we needed it. It was great to send our awesome seniors out with a victory, this group has done such a good job on the court and more importantly off the court by serving others and helping make their school and community a better place.”
