by Ben Murphy
Sports Writer
The Farwell girls basketball team had been off for 11 days entering Monday’s Jack Pine Conference game at Shepherd. The Lady Eagles had no trouble getting back in the swing of things though, playing their way to a 36-21 victory.
“We had been off (11 days) so I was a little worried about our timing, rhythm and conditioning heading into this game,” head coach Mike Groulx said. “We started the game hitting on all cylinders as we opened the first quarter up 14-0.”
The night was also highlighted by senior Madison Travis scoring her 1000th career point; just the third player in program history to reach the milestone.
“Absolutely an incredible accomplishment,” Groulx said.
Travis’ milestone came on a free throw in the second quarter, helping the Eagles take a 23-6 lead into the locker room.
Farwell led 31-17 entering the fourth and it outscored Shepherd 5-4 in a low-scoring fourth quarter.
“The fatigue started to set in during the second quarter and we missed some easy shots and got into foul trouble for the first time all year,” Groulx said. “Second half we were real sloppy with turnovers and missed shots and execution. We missed some shots to open the third and Shepherd went on a 7-0 run. We were able to play our entire bench and I’m happy that we were able to come out with a win.”
Travis finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, Remi Sponseller scored nine points and had her hands on 10 steals and Raini Sponseler chipped in with eight points and five rebounds.
Farwell (14-4 overall, 9-4 JPC) was at home against Harrison on Thursday to wrap up the regular season. The Eagles play in a Division 3 district at Beal City, with their first game taking place on Wednesday against the winner of Monday’s game between Beal City and Beaverton. Meridian and Pinconning are on the other side of the bracket.