COLUMBUS

A pivotal conference contest that had been previously postponed finally came to fruition when the Lady Lions made a road trip to face the only team that has beaten them this season, the Columbus Wildcats. 

In a rematch that could very well decide the conference champion, Lone Tree avenged their only loss of the season by defeating Columbus 52-33 on Jan. 25. 

With this win the Lady Lions claim sole possession of first place in the Southeast Super Conference-North with few games remaining on the schedule. Now in first place the Lady Lions control their destiny on the path to a conference championship. 

With something to prove to the team that gave them the only blemish on their record this season, Lone Tree opened this contest by scoring 27 in the first quarter. 

While the scoring for Lone Tree cooled off as the game progressed this burst of points gave the Lady Lions a lead they never gave up. 

The Wildcats faced a 13-point deficit at halftime, but the Lone Tree defense stood tall in the second half, limiting Columbus to just nine points for the rest of the game.

It was quite a night for Lone Tree senior Avery Lisk. Lisk looked comfortable from three-point range, going 6/7 from three to end the night with a team high 20 points. She also accounted for five steals and five rebounds. 

Junior Vivian Zaruba also entered double figures, scoring 10 points to go along with a team high seven steals and six rebounds. 

Lone Tree 53, Louisa-Muscatine 21

Before taking on Columbus, it was a home sweeping success for the Lady Lions as they grounded the Falcons for the second time this season on Jan. 23 to improve their impressive winning streak to 11, their conference record to 9-1, and their overall record to 14-1. 

Lone Tree opened this game up by going on a 19-0 run and their defense, just like it has been doing all season long, made life tough for their opponent’s offense. With less than two minutes left Louisa-Muscatine scored their first and only field goal of the first quarter. 

Throughout the whole game the Lady Lions limited the Falcons to single digits in every quarter. Coming out of halftime Lone Tree scored 20 to head into the final frame with a 34-point lead, a lead that only decreased by two by the time the game ended. 

Leading the Lady Lions in points was junior Vivian Zaruba, scoring 13. Sophomore Ava Christofferson had a team leading seven steals. Sophomore Alyson Ford and junior Rylee Shield both ended the night with seven rebounds to tie for the team high.

 Lone Tree 50, Pekin 30

Defense and offense were clicking in high gear for Lone Tree when they went on the road to defeat the Pekin Panthers for the second time this season on Jan. 26. 

Lone Tree’s defensive prowess was on full display in this win, holding the Panthers to just a single point in the second and fourth quarters. The Lady Lions scored a quarter high 20 points in the second frame, eventually leading to a win by 20 points. 

The Panthers were led by sophomore Anna Hadley who scored 11 points and collected nine rebounds. 

Sophomore Finley Jacque scored a team high 14 points for Lone Tree while also securing seven rebounds. 

Lone Tree 56, Wapello 39

It was senior night for Wapello but the Lady Lions were able to put a damper on their celebration as they collected their second win over the Arrows this season on Jan. 29. 

With this win Lone Tree increased their winning streak to 15, improved their conference record to 13-1, and their overall record to 18-1. Their win total is the most for the Lady Lions since their 2016-17 season where they also recorded 18 wins. 

Another more significant result of this win is that the Lady Lions now claim at least a share of the SEISC Championship. They can win the championship outright if they win their final games of the season but no matter what happens from this point forward they are locked in as conference champions. This is the first conference title for Lone Tree, in female sports, since the 2003-04 season. 

Lone Tree (18-1) stayed home for senior night and battled the WACO Warriors (10-8) on Jan. 30. The Lady Lions will also take part in the SEISC Shootout on Feb. 1.