Junior Grace Tahahwah takes on a double team during varsity action of the Meskwaki versus Valley Lutheran game on Friday, December 18. Meskwaki held on for a close 41-39 victory. Chronicle Photo/Drake Cherveny

Following a (1-1) start, the Lady Warriors have fallen on some hard times with five straight losses at the hands of division rivals GMG, North Tama, and Don Bosco, along with non-conference power-houses Janesville and Dunkerton. Fortunately, after three straight road games the girls returned back home to take on the Valley Lutheran Crusaders (1-7) on Friday, December 18th. After a slow first half, the Lady Warriors picked up the intensity in the third quarter where they took their first lead and never looked back. The game went right down to the wire, but Meskwaki held onto the victory by a score of 41-39.

Starters for the Lady Warriors were as follows: Marcelena Guevara, Delicia Guevara, Tori Lasley, Jazmyne Roberts, and Abigail Iron Shell.

The Crusaders countered with a lineup of: Jasper Downs, Katelynn Panning, Ardis White, Emma Ambrecht, and Elsa Swanson.

The first quarter got underway in the worst way possible for the Lady Warriors. A struggling Crusaders team’s lone bright spot has been the emergence of sophomore forward Emma Ambrecht (11.5 ppg). Ambrecht’s athleticism caused havoc on the Meskwaki front-court leading to eight first quarter points. Meskwaki also had troubles getting anything going offensively as their first point, a Delecia Guevara free throw, didn’t come until the 4:15 mark in the first quarter. The slow start gave the Lady Warriors a quick 12-4 deficit heading into the second.

The offensive struggles continued into the second quarter, but thankfully the defense stepped up. Ambrecht was held to just one bucket while Jazmyne Roberts led the way for all scorers at four points. A 6-6 draw resulted in the deficit remaining at eight at halftime with the score at 18-10 Crusaders.

The third quarter is where the flood gates opened. The Lady Warriors came out attacking the ball and exploited the lack of Crusaders ball-handling by deploying a full-court press after every made basket. The strategy resulted in countless Crusader turnovers as Meskwaki owned the time of possession in the second half. With 2:22 remaining in the third, Sara Ikebe gave the Lady Warriors their first lead of the game with a jumper off the inbound while capping off a 12-3 scoring run. When the buzzer sounded to end the third Meskwaki found themselves with a one point lead at 26-25.

The final quarter of play was met with the same results for Meskwaki as they jumped out to a quick 8-2 run to start the quarter. More good news came at the 5:18 mark when Crusaders shooting guard Katelynn Panning fouled out, forcing Valley Lutheran to dip into their thin bench. The drama really unfolded with 2:40 remaining when Elsa Swanson dropped four straight points to put the score at 40-34 Meskwaki. Then, with 31.2 remaining, Ardis White hit 1/2 free throws to make it a one possession game at 40-37. The play of the game came at the 17.5 mark when the Meskwaki press wouldn’t allow Jasper Downs to get past half court, leading to a five second call. Now, in a race against the clock, the Crusaders were forced to foul Marcelena Guevara with 11.6 remaining. Guevara would hit 1/2 free throws to give Meskwaki a short-lived four point lead as just a second and a half later Emma Ambrecht dropped a pair of free throws to bring the score to 41-39. Following the made free throws, Ambrecht was forced to foul Grace Tahahwah with 6.3 left. Tahahwah missed the front-end of the one-and-one leading to a Crusaders fast break the other way. Fortunately, senior point guard Jasper Downs saw her potential game-tying shot at the buzzer clank off the side of the rim as Meskwaki completed the second-half comeback victory.

The win improved the Lady Warriors to (2-6) on the season as they’ll hit the road to take on Brittney Litterer (13.2 ppg) and the Clarksville Indians (5-3) at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 22nd. Until then, the scoring leaders for this game were as follows: Tahahwah (9), Marcelena Guevara (7), Delicia Guevara (7), Pushetonequa (6), Roberts (6), Lasley (2), Ikebe (2), and Iron Shell (2).

12/20/15 Iowa Star-South Girls Conference Standings

1. Colo-Nesco (8-1)

2. Don Bosco (6-4)

3. North Tama (5-4)

4. GMG (3-5)

5. Meskwaki (2-6)

6. Waterloo Christian (2-7)