CARROLLTON – It seemed as if it just wasn’t Calhoun’s night when the Warriors took on the Nokomis Redskins in the first Lady Hawk Invite semifinal played Thursday evening at Carrollton.
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Calhoun took a 1-0 lead thanks to a free throw from Sadie Kiel but from there Nokomis took over. The Redskins led 12-4 after the first quarter.
Chloe Dirks and Hannah Tarter each hit a three-pointer to get to that lead. Meanwhile, the ball was not finding the basket for Calhoun as it was held to one field goal in the first quarter.
The Warriors chipped away at the deficit, and thanks to a 7-2 run to end the half, they only trailed 19-15 at halftime.
The teams traded baskets and free throws throughout the third, but Nokomis kept its four-point lead at 29-25. The Redskins would watch their lead dissipate quickly to start the fourth.
Calhoun went on an 8-2 run to take the lead and from there they’d never lose it.
The quarter started with a single free throw from Audrey Gilman and a basket from Kate Zipprich to make it 29-28 before a Nokomis basket from Natalie Brownback.
Gilman then drilled a three to tie and Zipprich’s go-ahead basket made it 33-31 Warriors.
That proved to be Calhoun’s last field goal as they outscored the Redskins 7-3 to close out the game, all the points coming from the free throw line. The Warriors went 7-for-10 from the line down the stretch to secure the win.
Zipprich led all scorers with 12 points and Stella Gress added 11 for Calhoun. Gilman had six and Anna Oswald and Kiel each had five.
Nokomis did not have a double-digit scorer. The Redskins were led by Grace Dewerff with eight points, Camryn Engleman with seven, and Brownback with six.
Calhoun improves to 21-4 and moves on to Saturday’s championship game against Marquette Catholic. The Explorers upset the host Hawks in an overtime thriller in the second semifinal of the night.
That championship game is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. Nokomis will play Carrollton for third place at 5 p.m.
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