The Kirksville Junior Lady Knights played 3 games at Putnam County on Saturday and came away 
with 2 victories and nearly won the third.
In the first game of the day, the Junior Knights were scheduled to play a 5th grade team from Kirksville, but that team never showed up. So an older Putnam County team, arguably the best in the tourney, stepped in to play. In a surprising display of offense, both teams traded 4-point leads throughout the contest. Putnam scored first in the contest, but the Lady Knights quickly countered with a few lay-up baskets of their own.Though Putnam outlasted the Knights 22-18, Kirksville held their own against the older, and fresher team. Putnam had 10 players while Kirksville had only 6.
The Lady Knights were led in scoring by Bethany Fountain’s 8 points. Sarah and Lydia Belzer each added 4 
points while Chalee Britt scored 2.
In the second game, the Knights fared much better by running away from Green City 30-12. This game was never in doubt from the beginning as the Junior Ladies led from start to finish. Strong offense showings were common as Chalee Britt paced Kirksville with 12 points and Bethan Fountain added 8. Sarah Belzer followed her first games tally with 6 more in the second game. First year player Abby Allison scored 4 second half points to round out the scoring for Kirksville.
In the final game of the day, the Junior Knights outlasted Schuyler County 24-16. Kirksville spotted the Lady Rams a 6-2 lead before storming back to overtake the smaller Rams in the second half. Chalee Britt and Bethany Fountain led Kirksville with 8 points apiece and Sarah Belzer added 4 more. Lydia Belzer chipped in 2 points and did an outstanding job of running the point guard position for most 
of the day. Finally, Hosanna Rider scored the first basket of her brief career as a Lady Knight to loud cheers from the bench.
For the year, all of the members of the Lady Knights have scored and each has displayed increasingly aggressive defensive and offensive skills. Though this may have been the last official Junior game (Heartland pending) the Juniors have worked hard and have improved in every aspect of the game.
Junior Knights, we are all very proud of you!
My apologies the Bethany Fountain. I could not find your photo for this article, but will upload it as soon as I get a new copy of it.
Kirksville Area Homeschool 