After a string of three wins, the Ponca Indians's good fortune finally ran out on Tuesday. They fell 57-45 to Laurel-Concord-Coleridge. While losing is never fun, Ponca can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 132nd, while Laurel-Concord-Coleridge is ranked 50th).
When it comes to explaining why Ponca lost, one person who can't be blamed is Aix Hughes. Despite the final result, she scored 19 points along with seven rebounds and six steals. Those 19 points set a new season-high mark for her. Elsie Keller was another key contributor, scoring ten points along with five rebounds.
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge found their leader in underclassman Rena Rasmussen, who scored 22 points along with nine rebounds and four steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which Rasmussen has scored at least 25% of Laurel-Concord-Coleridge's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Carlie Kvols, who scored eight points.
Ponca's loss dropped their record down to 3-2. As for Laurel-Concord-Coleridge, the victory was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 4-1.
Ponca will head out on the road to face off against Vermillion at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Laurel-Concord-Coleridge will be home for the holidays to greet Plainview at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Plainview focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up eight on Tuesday.
