It was a tough week on the schedule for the Lone Tree girls, who played the top two teams in the conference on Tuesday and Friday. The Lady Lions were unable to end winning streaks for Winfield Mt. Union and Mediapolis, but Lone Tree did keep New London winless with a 53-23 blowout on Thursday. 

“I thought we were better on both ends than we had been in our two previous games,” Lone Tree coach Ryan Shelman said about the win. “We’ve been doing some really good things. I think we’re learning. I see progress in our girls, both offensively and defensively.”

Lone Tree led by just three points after one quarter, but outscored the Tigers 15-6 in the second to take a comfortable 23-11 lead into the locker room at halftime. 

“We were able to get the ball inside, but we also had some girls that really stepped up outside,” Shelman said. “Madelyn McCullough got hot there in the middle of the game from the 3-point line, and I thought we shared the ball well.”

McCullough had three of Lone Tree’s five first-half 3-pointers and finished with 13 points in the win.

The Lady Lion defense did not allow a point in the third quarter, and Lone Tree led 45-13 with six minutes remaining. 

“We really forced a lot of turnovers, really got aggressive with our defense, and got aggressive with some of our trapping stuff,” Shelman said.

Kasey Chown scored 16 of her game-high 20 points in the second half. Riley Kruger and Avery Lisk each hit a 3-pointer in the first half, and Bailey McGrew scored four points in the second half. 

“We did a good job of getting the ball inside and then moving it back outside,” Shelman said. “We did a good job of starting outside and spreading the floor. When you knock down some of those perimeter shots, you really open stuff up inside and I think that’s what happened.”

Mediapolis 78, Lone Tree 29

Avery Lisk led Lone Tree with nine points in a loss to Mediapolis on Friday. 

Her third 3-pointer cut the Mediapolis lead to 29-14 in the second quarter and Kasey Chown’s put back had Lone Tree within 32-16 before a 22-2 Mediapolis run. 

Chown had 11 rebounds and finished with eight points. Maddie McCullough scored six points and Riley Krueger had four. 

Hallie Mohr led the Bullettes with 22. 

WMU 75, Lone Tree 11

Kasey Chown had three of Lone Tree’s four field goals in a loss to WMU on Tuesday. 

The Lady Wolves made 31 shots and dominated the offensive glass, rebounding 21 of their own 27 misses. WMU also forced 23 turnovers during its sixth straight win. 

Freshman Cate Sexton made her only shot attempt of the game for Lone Tree and Avery Lisk went 3-for-5 from the free throw line.