Lady Eagles deal with issues

By Clara Aucoin
Gilpin County News Senior Writer

Thank goodness it didn’t count.  Nowhere to go but up.  Get the bad one out of your system.  There are all kinds of old adages, but none quite do justice to the 13-47 licking that the Gilpin Lady Eagles took at Merino last Thursday.  They bounced back to win at Christian Fellowship, then began to put it all together at Clear Creek on Tuesday night.

The Eagles took the long bus ride knowing they were going into the home of a perpetual state play-off contender.  They played Merino last year and lost in overtime.  The Eagles were bringing their top scorer and one of the premier defensemen in the league, and Merino must have lost someone, right?  Well, it didn’t matter.

The Lady Eagles had internal issues to deal with.  They had discipline to instill.  It added up to a night they refuse to dwell on, but a night they will not likely forget.

With three players sitting out the first quarter, the Eagles were deep into a scoring deficit by the second quarter.  Then the girls cratered, not accustomed to being so completely whipped.  That is all they want to say on the matter.

Kim Fuller finished with four points, 1 block and six rebounds; Andrea Galanski had four points one steal, one block and six rebounds; Tara Galanski had one steal, one assist and three rebounds; Kim Hartman finished with one steal, two assists, and two rebounds; Erin Murray had two points, two steals, two blocks and four rebounds; Amber Sterling managed three points, one steal, and three rebounds; and Katie Vaughn had two steals and four rebounds.

At Christian Fellowship the Eagles played a good team in a league battle.  Early they started out dominating, and when Fellowship came back in the second half, the Eagles had enough of a cushion that they defense could hold on for a 28-26 win.  Still, the entire game was a defensive battle, both teams never getting out of the 20s in scoring.  That seems to be the mark of the Jeff Schuessler coached Eagles.  They have offensive power, but the deliberate offense slows down the scoring and the tight defense shuts down the opposition.

Individual statistics from Fellowship had Kim Fuller with four points, three assists and five rebounds; Andrea Galanski with 10 points, two steals, two assists, two blocks and 13 rebounds, her first double double of this season; Tara Galanski finished with one point, one block and three rebounds; Kim Hartman earned two steals, one assist and one rebound; Erin Murray scored two points, one assist, one block and eight rebounds; and Amber Sterling had eight points, one assist and six rebounds.

At Clear Creek on Tuesday night the Eagles played their annual game with their neighbor Diggers, who are in Class 3A.