Lady Bulldogs slip past Rangerettes

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Senior Night lived up to its billing at Davenport Gymnasium as Kelsey Piche and Blaine Bundren led the Harrisburg High School girls basketball team to a 52-47 win against Benton.

Piche poured in 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the way for the Lady Bulldogs, while Bundren added 12 points, five assists and two steals in her first game back since injuring her Achilles on Jan. 5.

"We just seemed to play better with Blaine. She's such a dynamic player. Everybody kind of got back to playing their usual positions," co-head coaches Denise Clayton and April Horning said. "She does all the little things automatically."

Megan Sullivan added nine points off the bench and Hillary Shires scored two points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the team's triumphant effort.

Molly Berry, the team's other regular senior starter added six points.

The Rangerettes were down by as many as seven points in the third quarter on Wednesday night, but were able to inch back into the game and take its first lead since the two minute mark of the first quarter on a 3-point shot from Lindy Meacham with about 7:22 remaining in the third period.

In the end, it was Bundren hit the 3-point bucket that put Harrisburg up for good with 6 minutes, 17 seconds left as the team went up by a score of 39-37. The fourth quarter three ball sparked a 11-2 run that saw HHS take a 47-39 lead with 2:43 remaining in regulation.

Benton would pull to within three points, but it would turn out to be too little too late.

The Lady Bulldogs used an accurate eye at the free-throw line, sinking 10 of their 13 attempts from the charity stripe en route to the five point victory.

"We just feel comfortable when they're at the line," Clayton and Horning said after the win.

Harrisburg started all five of its graduating seniors, including Taryn Dewar and Autumn Twardowski, each of whom joined the varsity team this season after not playing organized team basketball since eighth grade. Neither player scored, but both were efficient enough on the defensive side of the ball as the two teams dueled in a scoreless tie for the game's first three minutes.

Seniors accounted for the Lady Dogs' first two buckets as Bundren put in the team's first points at the 3:37 mark in the first period and Piche scored on the team's next offensive possession to kick off the game scoring for HHS.

The Lady Bulldogs return to action Thursday as they travel to Murphysboro to take on the Lady Red Devils.

Box Score

BEN 8 9 11 19-47

HBG 9 12 10 21-52

Benton (47): Mendez 3 4-7 11, Miller 1 0-0 2, Meacham 4 7-9 18, Corn 4 1-4 9, Webb 0 1-2 1, Parrish 1 1-3 3, Carney 1 1-2 3. Totals: 14 15-27 47.

Three-point field goals: Meacham 3, Mendez 1.

Harrisburg (52): Piche 6 6-9 18, Berry 1 4-4 6, Sullivan 4 1-4 9, Morgan 2 1-1 5, Shires 1 0-3 2, Bundren 4 3-4 12. Totals: 18 15-25 52.

Three-point field goals: Bundren 1.

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