After a back-and-forth affair, the Warriors came up just short, falling at home to the Cottey Comets 71-65.
Early in the contest Cottey jumped out to a 4-2 lead. Despite a slow start offensively and early turnover troubles Calvary played good transition defense and was able to grab the lead at the end of the first quarter 9-8. After the game Head Coach Tressa Shoemaker said, ”Early on it looked like we were playing through some sludge, coming off the quick turnaround, but we need to be able to create opportunities, no matter the time frame.”
In the second quarter, the Comets began to find their offensive rhythm and started to covert their easy shot opportunities into points, starting the quarter on a 16-5 run. However, in the last three minutes of the first half the Warriors found their offense as well, culminating with an Avery Kornstad three with three seconds left in the half. Calvary headed into the break down by only five, 29-24.
Both teams came out shooting well in the third quarter but neither team was able to pull away. A long range three from Taylor Hunter at the end of quarter three sent the game to the fourth quarter tied at 43.
After the quarter break the Warriors came out hot, firing their way to an eight point lead with just under five minutes to play. But the Comets didn’t go away and clawed back to within three with 3:17 left in the game. Over the final minutes Cottey went on a 14-5 run to close out the game, connecting on 5 of 6 of their free throws in the final minute.
Foul trouble and poor rebounding plagued Calvary throughout and made it tough for the Warriors to hang on. The Warriors were out-rebounded 57-33 overall and gave up 17 offensive boards to the Comets. Coach Shoemaker said that it was a combination of Cottey’s height and poor positioning that lead to the discrepancy, “On average we are a shorter team so we have to [get in good] position, and that’s something that we’ll work on in practice.”
Hunter again led the way posting 18 points after her 40 point performance on Thursday. Anna Holloway and Kornstad rounded out the Warriors in double figures, with 17 and 14 respectively. Anna Davis led the team in rebounds with eight. Shalom Sutcliffe added five assists.
Taylor Coonce led Cottey with a 17 point, 12 rebound double-double.
With the loss Calvary falls to 3-4 on the season, and will look to right the ship after another quick turnaround, at Kansas Christian on Monday.
After falling behind by 15 early, Calvary fought its way back into the game against the Saints of CCCB.
The contest began well enough for the Warriors as Zeb Green scored on the game’s opening possession, holding their own through the first three minutes. The Saints then went on a 10-0 run to take a 15-6 lead with 15 minutes left in the first half.
Led by full-court pressure defensively CCCB was able to take a 15 point lead multiple times over the next ten minutes. But, head coach Matt Sanders was able to stop the bleeding, “They pressed us early and we turned it over. Then through a couple timeouts, we made some changes and just chipped away at the lead.”
Sparked by solid shooting all around and a pair of 3’s from Jay Lems, with four seconds left in the half CU had the Saint lead down to six, with possession. Off of an AJ Bordallo inbound pass, Jax Bell was able to find Cam Bender for an open, buzzer-beating three to cut the lead in half before the break.
Both teams came out of halftime evenly matched with the game staying close for its entirety. With 16 minutes left in the game, CU was able to grab its first lead since the 17-minute mark of the first half, 47-46. The teams went back and forth until some quick steals led to easy buckets for the Saints who held a 61-56 advantage with 11 minutes to play. However, the Warriors did not go away and after a pair of and-one conversions by Green and a 3 from Ben Jones CU held a two-point lead 68-66.
Central defensive adjustments and foul trouble then caught up with the Warriors and CCCB went on an 8-0 run to take the lead. Sanders said, “They called a timeout, went to a zone and we didn’t handle it well.” But clutch three-point shooting kept Calvary in the game the whole way. After a Lems 3-pointer CU needed a steal with 1.4 seconds left for a chance to force overtime, but couldn’t come away with the ball, falling to the Saints 87-84.
Zeb Green led the scoring for Calvary with 24 points going 6-7 from the free-throw line. Jay Lems added 19, Ben Jones was also in double figures with 10. Green, Jones, and Ques Harris led the team with 6 rebounds a piece. The Warriors shot 47% from the field as a team.
Trey Black led CCCB in scoring with 19.
With the loss, CU falls to 4-4 on the season and will look to get back on track on the road against Baptist Bible College on November 26.
Taylor Hunter and Avery Kornstad provided the one-two punch for the Warrior offense on Thursday night as the pair combined for over half of the team’s points to help CU defeat CCCB 109-95. Hunter went 5/10 from beyond the arc and was a perfect 7/7 from the charity stripe to score 40 points. Her 40 point output is the best scoring game from an individual ladies player in the history of Calvary University. Kornstad shot 5/16 from the field and 6/8 from the line to total a season-high 19 points in the victory.
The team’s total of 109 points is a school record as well. “We put together two pretty good offensive halves tonight,” Warrior Head Coach Tressa Shoemaker said. “We were consistent offensively. Shooting 46% from the field for the game is a good performance. Taylor had an outstanding night.” “There came a time during the game when I knew I needed to play with a sense of urgency, said Hunter. “As soon as Shalom hit two three point shots in a row it was time to step up and play with that same intensity and desire.”
The Warriors came into the game on Thursday night on the heels of a long road trip recently finished to Canada where Calvary lost a three-point battle to Providence University College and then traveled to Trinity Bible College to pick up a win in Ellendale, North Dakota. The Warriors were hoping to pick up their first 2019 win against an MCCC Conference opponent as they took the court Thursday night in Moberly, MO.
The Warriors and Saints played an extremely tight first quarter as both teams were feeling each other out in the early going. The first quarter ended with the Saints up 26-24. CCCB clawed their way into the lead during the second quarter with timely three-point shooting as they took a 51-46 lead into intermission.
In the second half, the Warriors came out with a strong full-court press that caused numerous turnovers from CCCB. This press changed the momentum and tempo of the game and turned a seven-point CCCB lead into a 79-70 CU lead by the end of the third quarter. Calvary held on in the fourth quarter to win 109-95.
“We had been struggling to find a good combination on offense but we were able to combine good scoring with some good defense stretches to come away with a win,” Coach Shoemaker said. “Anna Davis, Taylor Hunter, and Shalom Sutcliffe each contributed three steals tonight. “We came out and set a tone defensively in the second half. I’m proud of that.”
The Calvary Warriors left Ellendale, ND with a victory over the Trinity Bible College Lions on Saturday. The Warriors has a strong start to the game, scoring 27 points in the first quarter. “We knew going into the game we would have to work together and build a strong lead right away in order to win,” said Coach Tressa Shoemaker. Calvary carried their momentum from the first quarter into the second quarter by utilizing a strong full court press. The Warriors pressure caused the Lions to turn the ball over 13 times, while the Warriors came away with 15 steals by the end of the game. The Warriors put up another 17 points in the second quarter to go into halftime with a strong lead over the Lions.
A slow start to the second half for the Warriors allowed Trinity to cut the lead down to eight points in the third quarter. However, CU’s strong full court press proved to be too much for Trinity, and the Warriors came out of the game with a 72-60 victory. “It took the entire team working together communicating and encouraging each other,” Coach Shoemaker stated. “I am proud of the girls for staying mentally tough and we will use this to keep building for the future.” The Lady Warriors were led by Taylor Hunter with 25 points, Anna Holloway added 13 points, and Avery Kornstad contributed 10. Shalom Sutcliffe and Hunter both finished the game with five steals each.
The Warriors will next play Central Christian College in Moberly, MO on the 21st.
With two minutes remaining in the game, the Calvary Warriors were down ten points to the Trinity Bible College Lions Saturday afternoon. The Warriors battled back from behind in the final minutes with clutch three point shooting from Braydon Unruh to tie the game. The momentum of the Warriors was impossible for Trinity to overcome in overtime, and CU came away with a hard-nosed 90-78 victory in Ellendale, ND. “This was one of the best comebacks of my career,” said Coach Sanders. The Warriors had a slow start to the game, falling behind the Lions in the first few moments of the game. But with great contributions from the Warriors bench, they were able to battle back and even the score before going into halftime with a 36-28 lead.
Calvary once again had a slow start to the second half, falling behind the Lions early on. “One of the themes of this trip was being mentally tough enough to win on long road trips and in hostile environments,” said Coach Sanders. “We did that today.” The Warriors refused to let down, battling from behind once more to win the game in overtime. “Our resilience got us back into the game,” stated guard Ques Harris. “Ultimately it led us to the victory today.”
Braydon Unruh led the team with 30 points, Unruh was 6/12 from beyond the arc and contributed six rebounds to the cause. Jax Bell shot 7/11 from the field and finished with 14 points while his fellow forward Zeb Green finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
The Warriors will next play Central Christian College on the 21st in Moberly, MO.
