McKaig, Kennell, Layer score in double figures, lead surging Pioneer past Argos

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

ARGOS — The offensive upswing for the Pioneer girls basketball team continued against host Argos Saturday.

Mia McKaig scored 14 points, Liz Kennell notched a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Lois Layer added 11 points as the visiting Lady Panthers spoiled the Lady Dragons’ senior night with a 53-12 win.

Pioneer led 30-7 at halftime and extended the lead to 42-12 after three quarters. When McKaig and Avery Haselby hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions with 6:54 left, the game went to a running clock, per the IHSAA Mercy Rule.

Lexi Gibson led Argos with five points.

Pioneer, who avenged a home loss to Argos last year, improved to 8-11 overall and 3-3 in the Hoosier North.

The Lady Panthers went 3-9 in November and December but have gone 5-2 in January. Their two losses in January have been to Rossville and Maconaquah, who are a combined 33-4.

Offense has keyed the turnaround. Pioneer scored 50 or more points in a game once in November and December; they have done it five times in January.

Pioneer’s offensive average is 40.8 ppg for the season, but it is 50.8 in January.

Argos dropped to 2-16, and they finished conference play 0-8.

Pioneer scored the first 15 points of the game. Layer hit a 15-footer, Hannah Zeigler hit a pullup 12-foot banker, and McKaig reacted to a hard Argos closeout by driving to the left baseline and hitting a floater. Then Layer hit a driving banker, and McKaig hit a pullup off the glass.

After an Argos timeout, Haselby hit a trey from the left wing in transition, and McKaig found Kennell with a nifty pass for a layup.

An Ellie Bollenbacher bank from five feet with 31 seconds left in the quarter broke the shutout.

“We’re getting much better on offense,” Pioneer coach David McWherter said. “Teams have been playing us a lot more man this year, and we’ve improved so much in our man offense this year. The girls are executing really well and playing together.”

Kennell added six more points in the second quarter, including two buckets on putbacks. Another putback led to a 3-point play in the third quarter.

“It was last summer she really improved,” McWherter said of Kennell, a sophomore. “Her confidence is starting to come around and so forth. She still doesn’t think she can play the game of basketball, but she sure can. She’s a heck of an athlete. If we can just get her to land on two feet a little more spaced out, she’s going to keep her balance a little bit better and not have a few of those turnovers that she has occasionally, but we’ll keep working on it.”

Zeigler, Pioneer’s other starting forward, had two more baskets in the third quarter, one on an off-balance driving bank and the other when she worked a screen-and-roll with McKaig for a layup.

Reserves Leah Zeigler and Brooklynn Dillman also had baskets.

Argos coach Nick Medich also said Pioneer, with players like Kennell and Hannah Zeigler, made rebounding “extremely difficult.”

In addition to Gibson and Bollenbacher, Argos also honored Grace Thomas, a forward who has missed the last two seasons with multiple knee injuries. Thomas was introduced as an “honorary starter” during pregame introductions, a gesture that appeared to catch Thomas by surprise. It was the night’s most emotional moment.

“She had a rough go,” Medich said. “Last year she didn’t play because she was hurt. This year she was playing and getting some in with us and again … injury. So she’s had a rough go the last two years. She’s sticking it out. She encourages all the girls. Talk about a mental attitude winner: It’s her. She’s always supportive. If someone does something well, she’s the first one to give a high-five. And then she’s struggling because she wants to play, and the body is not letting her.”

Thomas was not the only injured player. Starters Kinlee Kelly and Makenzie Smith were out with back and thumb injuries, respectively, and starting point guard Leah Pizzuto played with a protective mask after taking an elbow to the face against North Miami Jan. 3.

Freshman Peytyn Willis started, and two other freshmen, Alleigh VanDerWeele and Avery Binfet, also saw time off the bench.

“I think we’re trying to build a program,” Medich said. “The seniors have been in a very tough spot. They’ve had three coaches in four years – three different systems. They haven’t had much continuity with anything they’ve done. They knew coming in it was going to be a difficult season just because they lost some seniors that controlled the ball last year and scored points for them. We didn’t have that this year. We have three freshmen. We have girls hurt now. … It’s been a struggle. … We can’t get a flow going.”

Pioneer 53, Argos 12

PIONEER (53) (8-11, 3-3)

Lois Layer 4 2-2 11, Avery Haselby 2 0-0 6, Mia McKaig 6 0-0 14, Liz Kennell 5 2-3 12, Hannah Zeigler 3 0-0 6, Isabella Cosgray 0 0-0 0, Victoria Bingaman 0 0-0 0, Mya Ott 0 0-0 0, Leah Zeigler 1 0-0 2, Brooklynn Dillman 1 0-0 2

TEAM: 22 4-5 53

ARGOS (12) (2-16, 0-8)

Peytyn Willis 0 0-0 0, Leah Pizzuto 0 0-0 0, Lexi Gibson 2 0-0 5, Haley Shafer 1 0-0 3, Ellie Bollenbacher 2 0-2 4, Avery Binfet 0 0-0 0, Alleigh VanDerWeele 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 5 0-2 12

Three-point field goals:

Pioneer 5 (McKaig 2, Haselby 2, Layer),

Argos 2 (Gibson, Shafer)

Total fouls: Pioneer 10, Argos 5

Turnovers: Pioneer 13, Argos 16

Score by quarters

Pioneer 15 15 12 11 – 53

Argos 2 5 5 0 – 12