WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Junior Gabi Melby went off for a career-best 41 points to guide the Huntington women’s basketball team to their second consecutive win, an 86-75 decision over IU East, Saturday afternoon as part of the HU Classic.

Melby’s banner day saw her go 11-for-18 from the field which included knocking down a trio of threes in addition to draining all 16 of her free throws. When she wasn’t scoring, she was busy pulling down five rebounds, handing out five dimes and swiping two steals.

Bailey Kelham was her sidekick. She also camped out at the charity stripe where she went 11-for-12 on her way to pouring in a career-high 19 points. Additionally she snagged seven boards and a steal. Emily Seboe and Olivia Raby shared game-high rebounding honors with each grabbing seven. Raby also blocks two shots.

The first quarter had the feel of a boxing match as the two teams met each other blow-for-blow. The lead swapped back and forth with only one possession separating the two teams for all but 30 seconds of the opening ten minutes. Knotted up at 11-11, Kyndell Jochim dropped in two from downtown on back-to-back possessions to send her team into the second quarter up 17-14.

Huntington never trailed after that having extended the lead to five at 38-33 by halftime. The hosts’ largest lead of the contest was 14 points late in the third, but the Red Wolves didn’t go down without a fight. With three minutes remaining, the guests had dwindled their deficit to four points, 67-63, but it was Melby and Kelham to the rescue.

The pair teamed up to score HU’s final 19 points. They each scored twice in the paint after which Melby cashed in on a traditional three-point play inside a minute to play. Then began the march to the free throw line to secure the victory.

To say it was a physical game was an understatement. The two teams were whistled for a combined 58 fouls with five players disqualified. Each squad got to the line over 30 times with the Foresters connecting on 32 of their 36 attempts for 88.9 percent while IU East went 25-for-34 for73.5 percent.

Taylor Farris netted 34 points as the only player to score in double figures for the Red Wolves. With today’s loss, IU East drops to 2-3. All three of their losses have been to Crossroads League teams.

Next up for the Foresters (2-2) is a road trip to IU Northwest on Wednesday.