Lions Unable to Conquer Indians, Fall to Poplar

The Lustre Christian Lions traveled to Poplar to face the Indians for their first game of the new year on Tuesday, Jan. 5.

The Lady Lions took to the court in the first game of the night, and if not for the slow start in the first quarter of the game, the contest may have had a different outcome. Scoring only nine points in the first quarter compared to Poplar's 23 points, Lustre was just never able to bounce back.

The remainder of the game was much more balanced with Poplar scoring 44 points to Lustre's 41.

The Lady Indians came away with the win with a final score of 67-50. Leading in scoring for Lustre were senior Monica Brown with 24 points and sophomore Kylie Kirkaldie with 17. Also contributing were Kaitlyn Toavs, 6, and Kassie Kirkaldie, 3. Kylie Kirkaldie dropped an impressive five 3-pointers during the game, and Brown shot two of her own.

The Lady Indians also led the game with fouls, racking up 20 of them and losing Dae'shanna Fourbear to five fouls. The Lady Lions showed more restraint, earning only 9 fouls during the game.

Following the girls' game, the boys had their turn to face Poplar. The Indians led the scoring for the entire game, but the first half of the contest displayed the largest gap overall. Poplar scored 34 points to Lustre's 14.

Returning to the game after the half, the Lions played a different game, denying Poplar the success they had in the first half of the game. Poplar won the game with a final score of 61-40.

The high scorer for Lustre was sophomore Thomas Brown with 13. However, the points were fairly balanced among six of the team's players. Also scoring were: freshman Zach Brown, 6; sophomore Levi Brown, 4; junior Michael Brown, 9; and seniors Jocques Ndengeyingoma, 4; Teagan Friesen, 4. The boys also showed they can drop the 3-pointers. T. Brown ended the game with four, Z. Brown with two, and Ndengeyingoma with one.

Like the girls game, Poplar had the distinction of earning more fouls than Lustre, and lost junior Josh Miller who fouled out of the game.

Next for the Lions is a home game vs the Mavericks on Friday, and an away game in Dodson on Saturday.