We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Turner junior Ella Billmayer drives past the North Star defense for two of her team high 13 points in Gildford Friday evening.
The Turner girls basketball program has been on the rise the past few years and got off to a nice start to begin the season
Following a 2-0 start, the Tornadoes were looking to carry that momentum into conference play.
The Tornadoes played two solid teams over the weekend falling 52-37 to the North Star Knights Friday evening and 57-21 to the Fort Benton Longhorns Saturday afternoon.
The Knights were coming off two straight losses to begin the season.
The Tornadoes were a bit out of sorts offensively early on as four points from junior
Ella Billmayer amounted to all of their scoring in the opening stanza that saw the Knights take a early 13-4 lead.
Turner continued to struggle to get anything going in the second quarter as they again scored just four points to trail 26-8 at the break.
The offense started to come alive after intermission as junior Rennay Watkins, freshman Raegan Conlan and freshman Rylee Conlan found the scoring column.
The fourth quarter was the Tornadoes best as they scored 19 points with Raegan knocking down five of six free throws in the quarter.
Turner was defeated 52-37 in the conference opener and were paced by Billmayer's 13 point effort.
Raegan Conlan added seven while Rylee Conlan and Watkins each chipped in six.
Saturday was the girl's first chance to play in front of the home crowd this season as they welcomed the tough Fort Benton Longhorns to town.
Fort Benton is a strong team and the Tornadoes were up for the challenge early on.
Turner was able to keep the Longhorn offense in check for the most part as the teams entered the second quarter with Fort Benton holding a tenuous 8-4 advantage.
Both teams continued to play well defensively in the second quarter but the Longhorns extended their lead just a bit to 16-9 at the break.
The second half was all Fort Benton as the Tornadoes weren't able to slow the Longhorn offense down.
The Tornadoes fell in the end 57-21 to Fort Benton to even their season record at 2-2.
Turner was led in the contest by Raegan Conlan and her seven points. Watkins added five markers with Billmayer and Rylee Conlan each tallying four in the contest.
Turner played host to the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks this past Monday. The story will be included in next week's Journal.
Turner will use the holiday break to fine tune things, make some adjustments and will be ready to go January 5 when they travel to Dodson to take on the Coyotes in non-conference action. Their first home contest of the new year will be January 8 against the Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds.
