Eagles clip Black Hills State, 82-79

Photo by Melissa Miskimins

CHADRON – Chadron State’s Kaitlin Petri scored 28 points and Lexi Smidt sank six 3-pointers and finished with 21 points to lead the Eagles over Black Hills State 82-79 Tuesday evening at Armstrong Gymnasium.

In addition to Petri and Lexi Smidt, Kattie Ranta scored 11 and Rachael Smidt added 10 more as Chadron State won its second exhibition game of the season. The game was a regular season contest for Black Hills State, though, and the Yellow Jackets fell to 2-2.

The Eagles will open their regular season Monday in Chadron against the University of Mary. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.

Despite Tuesday’s lopsided first half - CSC erased an early 7-0 deficit by shooting over 60 percent from the field to take a 43-29 lead at the break – the game’s closing minutes were intense. The Yellow Jackets clawed their way back by outscoring the Eagles 50-39 in the second half and going to the charity stripe 30 times.

Black Hills also took advantage of three CSC players fouling out and pulled within 74-73 with four minutes to play when Katelynn Lamb hit one of two free throws.

The Eagles, who were playing without Petri since she fouled out, pushed the lead 76-73 after a layup from Rachael Smidt and iced the game down the stretch with some nifty defense from Jazmyn Webster and by making six of their final eight free throws.

Webster, a freshman from Cheyenne, Wyo., made a savvy play when she came up with a steal with 15 seconds to play when Black Hills was attempting to set up a 3-point shot with the score at 81-78. Webster, who finished with three blocks and five rebounds, then passed to Lexi Smidt who made a free throw to seal the win.

Petri hit 12 of 18 shots to finish with a game-high 28 points. She also had four steals, four assists, two blocks and seven rebounds before fouling out.

Kada Williams paced CSC with six assists and added six points.

Jordan Kent scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Black Hills State.

Also for the Yellow Jackets, Kristi Ryan had 11 points and nine boards, and Keeley Krolikowski scored 18 points.

For the game, Black Hills State shot 34.5 percent from the field (20-58), while Chadron State hit 55.8 percent (29-52). The Eagles, led by Lexi Smidt’s six treys, also connected on 10 of 18 from 3-point range.