The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

The Big Sandy Pioneers took to the court this past weekend for a pair of District 9C contest sagainst the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks and the Box Elder Bears.

Both girls and boys teams from the Hawks and Bears are expected to be at the top of the conference come tournament time so the young Pioneers had their hands full but neither the girls nor the boys backed down from the challenge.

Friday in Chester it was the Hawks winning the girls game 76-18 and the boys game 87-26.

Saturday the teams returned home to face the Box Elder Bears.

The girls turned in a valiant effort sticking with the undefeated Bears early. Big Sandy trailed just 12-6 after one and 22-14 at the break but the Bears opened the game up in the second half to secure the 62 28 win.

Sophomore Jenna Leader led the Pioneer effort with 10 points in the contest while senior Maddy Reichelt added eight points to the cause. Freshman Jaylyn Cline scored seven.

The boys game was all Box Elder as the visitors led 61-5 at the break before winning 89-29.

Junior Laurence Allderdice continues to give his best effort as he scored 11 points against the Bears. Eric Schwarzbach added six points.

The Pioneers will play a pair of District 9C contests this weekend as they will host the Turner Tornadoes on Friday.

Saturday Big Sandy will make the short trip north to play the North Star Knights.