Stuck on 31

With Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn and Woodbury Central finding it difficult to score with any consistency, both girls' basketball teams needed to take advantage of whatever opportunities might develop. Woodbury Central was the team to do that, outscoring the Hawks by four points in the third quarter to claim a 36-31 win on Dec. 1 at Moville.

The score was tied 4-4 at the end of the first quarter and the Wildcats managed to take a 13-12 lead into the halftime break. Woodbury Central built a five-point lead at the end of the third quarter and H-M-S could do no better than match the Wildcats point-for-point in the final quarter.

The Hawks made just 23 percent of their shots from the floor and were 0-for-11 from three-point range. They did better at the free throw line, converting 11-of-18 attempts.

Scoring for H-M-S included 10 points by Abby Douma, six points by Emily Mutombo and Kylee Schiphoff, three points by Gracie Knobloch, and two points by Elise Haack, Moriah Otto and Lindsey Van Es.

Douma and Schiphoff each had six rebounds while Haack and Otto had five. Mutombo came up with four steals, and Haack, Knobloch and Schiphoff each finished with two.

• vs. Trinity Christian

Despite holding Trinity Christian to 23 percent shooting, H-M-S could not generate enough offense to avoid a 33-31 loss on Dec. 2 at Hull.

Both teams shot under 25 percent from the floor but the Tigers had 15 more attempts and made three more than H-M-S, which proved to be the difference.

The Hawks trailed 9-6 after one quarter and settled for matching the Tigers' point totals in the second and third quarters. The final quarter was the best for both teams in terms of scoring, but H-M-S only managed one more point than the Tigers while being limited to 31 points for the second straight game.

Knobloch and Schiphoff each scored nine points, Douma and Mutombo scored four, Otto scored three and Mohni added two. The Hawks only made 9-of-37 shots from the floor, but did convert 11-of-16 free throw attempts.

Schiphoff also had seven rebounds and three steals; Knobloch also had seven rebounds; Otto grabbed four rebounds; Mutombo had six steals along with three rebounds; Douma had four steals and three rebounds; and Haack added three rebounds.

H-M-S (0-3) hosts Remsen St. Mary's (1A No. 4) on Dec. 9, Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire on Dec. 12 and Akron-Westfield on Dec. 13.