Lady Vandals lose first game

The Lady Vandals have had a perfect record throughout the non-conference season as they headed to Carlin this past Friday night. Eureka has had their way with the Lady Railroaders this season as they have beat them multiple times by significant margins each time. This meeting was much more important than the previous match-up between the two teams because it was each team’s first league game.

Eureka took it to Carlin early and often as they jumped out to a 43-13 halftime lead. The starters were taken out early with such a big lead as backups received an abundance of playing time. Head coach Travis Gallagher noted, “Carlin was missing a couple starters on a low numbered squad.” Even though Carlin was without key players, Eureka again showed that Carlin wasn’t a serious threat to give the Lady Vandals their first loss of the basketball season.

The Lady Vandals traveled to Owhyee the following day for another league showdown with one of the tougher teams in the league. The Lady Vandals struggled with the Lady Braves and their considerable size. “Size was a problem, they have one girl that is close to six foot.” Gallagher explained. He went on to add, “Angela Porter and Beth Damele did their best to keep the ball from her and faired okay, but having to double up on the post left 3 defenders covering their other four.” Eureka was having an off shooting night, but made a late push at the end lead by 3 fourth quarter 3-point field goals from Beth Damele. At the end though, it wasn’t enough to carry Eureka to victory. The combination of a poor shooting night, size mismatches, and having to help defend down low contributed to a 47-41 loss for Eureka.

Eureka is now 1-1 in league play and only has the one loss all season. They will look to get back on track against Wells this Friday, Jan. 16, at 6 p.m. in the new gym. This will be the first games in the new gym and Eureka’s first home games of the season. They will take on Jackpot at home the following day, Jan. 17 at 4 p.m.