The annual Orange and Black tournament, hosted by Colby, began on Jan. 20, where the lady Indians captured their first win against Chanute.

Finding a rhythm was hard for the Indians within the first quarter, but a scoring run of 15-1 was enough for the Indians to keep the lead going into the second half.

The second half was full of building the scoring gap; with another run of 10-2, Chanute was never able to catch up, leaving the Indians with a 48-32 win.

Freshman Molly Martin led the team with 18 points, junior Carly Lang had eight points with a career high of 10 rebounds also and senior Aleyia Ruder had a career high of 16 boards.

This win sent the Indians up against state-ranked Goodland. The Indians started strong, with 11 points, but Goodland answered with enough points to tie the game going into the second quarter. The score continued to go back and forth, with the Indians keeping the lead going into the second half.

The next two quarters were filled with lead changes, and a tie at the final buzzer sent the game into overtime. The first overtime period was filled with free throws for the Indians and then a tie at the buzzer again sent the game into a second overtime.

This time the Indians ended up falling short, with Goodland capturing the win by two points, 57-55.

Lang and sophomore Jillian Sheldon both had career highs of 16 points, and Martin added 10 points of her own.

In the third-place game against the tournament host the Colby Eagles, the Indians made an early impression, which was quickly followed by an Eagles scoring rally, but the Indians were able to obtain the lead going into halftime.

The Indians never gave up another lead change and led the rest of the game, with a final score of 45-30. Lang had another career high of 21.

Martin and Lang were named to the All-Tournament team, and senior Jersey Johnson was named to the All-Academic team.

The Indians are now 7-5 on the season, and they will travel to Salina to play Salina Central on Jan. 28.

22bschwien@usd489.com