Augusta takes two wins at seasonal start

The Augusta girls basketball team added two tallies to their win column in last week’s competitions: a 68-57 victory over Cochrane-Fountain City on Tuesday, Dec. 2 followed by a 71-63 defeat of the Blair-Taylor Wildcats on Friday, Dec. 5. 

On Tuesday, the Beavers hosted the Pirates from C-FC. The home team got off to a slow start and were down 11-6 at the first horn. As nerves settled, the Beavers started to click, taking a 28-26 lead by the halftime break. 

Augusta added a little space with a 48-43 lead by the end of the third quarter and then rolled to a 68-57 victory at the final buzzer.  

Dani Nelson scored 28 points with Cathy Renneke adding 17 of her own. Nelson also topped the charts with eight rebounds and five assists while coming in second with three steals.  

Katie Nelson led the team with four steals and collected seven rebounds and dished out two assists. Devon Shilka also delivered two assists to help the team with the 68-57 victory. 

On Friday, the Beavers traveled to Blair for a conference match-up with Augusta walking away with a 71-63 victory. Once again, the Beavers got off to a slow start, falling behind 14-10 in the first period. 

The Wildcats were in bonus for fouls early in the second quarter, which aided in a 25-10 run by their opponents and allowed Augusta to head to the locker room with a 35-24 advantage. As the home team narrowed the gap in the third, the Beavers clinched the game in the fourth with consistent free throw shooting. Augusta won 71-63 making 30-40 free throws. Dani Nelson led the team with 28 points--17 of which came from the charity stripe--and also pulled down five rebounds. Kayla Erdman poured in 17 with four shots from behind the arc and five free throws. Renneke dominated under the basket, scoring 15 points and grabbing seven rebounds. 

The Augusta girls team will next travel to Whitehall Thursday, Dec. 11 to take on the Norse in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.