Lady T-Birds can’t hold on, fall to Indians

By Denise Bonsack, Publisher

The GFW Lady T-Birds traveled to Sleepy Eye on Thursday, January 14 for a game against the Sleepy Eye Indians.

GFW’s Abby Heimkes nailed a three-pointer to start things off for the T-Birds, followed by a free throw by Kaity Lee to give the T-Birds a 4-2 advantage. 

The Indians pulled out in front, at one point building a 5-12 advantage, but the T-Birds battled back, tying the score at 13 with seven and a half minutes remaining in the first half.

GFW kept things close the remainder of the first half, with Shelby Ramirez scoring four, McKenzie Lauwagie adding two, and Brynn Busse nailing a three to end the half.

As the teams headed into the break, the Indians held a one-point lead, with a score of 24-25.

As the second half began, the T-Birds missed out on a couple of free-throw opportunities that left them falling further behind. Ramirez added a quick seven points to close the gap a bit. 

The Indians continued to work the ball, and took advantage of several turnovers. Midway through the second half, following a 5-0 run, they held a 32-44 advantage.

GFW Coach Rich Busse called a time-out to regroup and settle his team down.

Coming out of the time-out, Heimkes added two for GFW, and Ramirez, Busse and Lee all made successful trips to the free-throw line, but it wasn’t enough.

The Indians came away with the win, with a final score of 40-54.

Busse led the T-Birds with 15 points, two assists, one block, two rebounds and three steals, followed by Ramirez with 12 points, two assists, five rebounds and one steal.

Heimkes added five points, one block 10 rebounds and one steal, while Lee had three points, four rebounds and three steals. Taylor Haas and Lauwagie each added two points to round out the scoring. Lauwagie also had three rebounds and one steal, while Haas had three rebounds and two steals.

The Lady T-Birds host New Ulm Cathedral in Winthrop on Tuesday, January 21, and then Travel to New Ulm to take on the Chargers of MVL on their home court on Thursday, January 23.

For more photos from this event, please visit: http://sgmphotos.smugmug.com/GFW/Sports/GFW-GBB-vs-Sleepy-Eye-011620.