When the dust settled at the end of Friday night’s portion of the Four Corners Shootout in Keota, it is was Lone Tree Lady Lions and the Highland Huskies nabbing victories. First, it was Lone Tree that took down the Tigers of Iowa Valley in game one by a final of 48-27, and then it was Highland’s turn to take down the Keota Eagles by a final of 58-54.

In game one, Lone Tree took a quick 11-7 advantage after the first quarter, which blossomed to 28-15 by halftime. The Lady Lions scored double-digit points in the remaining two quarters to pull away even further to win a decisive victory in their first game of the season by 21 points.

Unofficially, Iowa Valley won the battle of the boards 30-27, but committed 13 more turnovers than the Lady Lions. Even though she did not start the contest, junior Finley Jacque managed to pile up 10 points by halftime, and ended the night with 13 to lead all six Lady Lion scorers. Senior Cate Sexton followed with 10 of her own, while Rylee Shield and Ava Christofferson each had eight. Iowa Valley was led by Lydia Kriegel’s 14 points.

Lone Tree Head Coach Ryan Shelman talked with KCII Sports after the game to get his thoughts on the win. “Our first group did a great job all night defensively. We’ve got some things we can tighten up and work on, especially offensively. It’s the first night. You’re going to have nerves. Things are going to take time to come to you, and overall I thought our girls did great,” Shelman said.

In game two, it was a much tighter contest between the home Keota Eagles and the new-look Highland Huskies. The game was separated by just a single point after the first frame, and only six at the half with Keota in front 28-22. The story of the first half was fouls and turnovers, with a combined 37 giveaways after the first 16 minutes. The second half was much cleaner, though, as only 13 combined turnovers were committed. Highland roared back in the third quarter to take a 41-38 lead into the fourth. The Eagles tried to make a late push, but the Huskies stood tall, with junior Mackenzie Davis making a handful of key buckets down the stretch while playing with four fouls to seal the deal.

Unofficially, Keota outrebounded the victorious Huskies 34-30, and tied Highland in total turnovers with 25, making 50 total in the game. In her varsity debut, freshman Kamryn Fink led Highland with 20 points, followed by Davis’s 13. Keota was led by senior Kimberly Clarahan’s 14.

Highland Head Coach Jody Fink also talked with KCII Sports postgame to dive into his team’s performance. “It wasn’t pretty, but the girls fought hard. We got into some foul trouble. I’ll give it to Keota. We got up on them, and they’d come back,” Fink said.

With their wins, Lone Tree and Highland move to 1-0 on the young season, while Keota and Iowa Valley drop to 0-1 ahead of tomorrow night’s Four Corners Shootout finale. The Area Game of the Week returns to action this afternoon when the Hillcrest boys host Sigourney in scrimmage action.