MISHAWAKA – Grace College seniors Darian Patton and Haley Richardson made their final game against rival Bethel College one to remember. The duo combined for 39 points in the Lady Lancers’ 74-69 win at Bethel on Saturday. Patton tied a career high with 20 points, making 8 of 10 attempts from the floor and hitting all three three-point shots she took. Richardson produced 19 points, one off her career best, on 7-of-14 shooting. The Lady Lancers (14-12, 9-5 Crossroads League) moved into a tie for second place in the league standings after Saturday’s victory. Grace shot a sizzling 54 percent and also committed just 12 turnovers – the team’s second-lowest turnover output of the season. The first half for Grace was a picture of efficiency. The Lady Lancers made 65 percent of their field goals, including 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. While the Lady Pilots (8-18, 5-9 CL) shot 60 percent, Grace also forced Bethel into 10 turnovers. As a result, Grace scored 11 points off Bethel’s mistakes. Grace never trailed in the first quarter and eventually built up a 10-point edge in the second quarter after Richardson converted an and-1. The Lady Lancers ended the half on a six-point run, including a late basket from Lauren Godfrey, to hand Grace a 44-32 lead at halftime. Patton and Vironnica Drake scored 10 points each in the first half, and Richardson accounted for nine more. Bethel nearly erased Grace’s cushion in the third quarter, battling all the way back to within two at 50-48. But Patton beat the buzzer with a basket to give Grace a lift, and that momentum carried over into the final stanza. Grace opened the fourth quarter on a 9-0 run, led by five points from Patton and four from Richardson. The Lady Pilots nearly conjured up a comeback in the final minutes. Bethel scored on five straight possessions to chop Grace’s lead down to 71-68 with 35 seconds left in regulation. Patton hit one free throw on Grace’s next possession, and Richardson iced the win with two more foul shots with 10 seconds to play. Drake filled the stat sheet with 12 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals before fouling out, and Godfrey added 10 points with a pair of triples. Kelsie Peterson added seven points and two assists, and Pam Miller scored six points. The Lady Lancers will head to Indianapolis on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. matchup against No. 2 Marian, the defending national champion and current league leader.
Men’s Basketball MISHAWAKA – After a closely contested first half, Grace’s men’s basketball team sputtered in the second half of a 91-73 loss at No. 4 Bethel on Saturday. The Lancers (12-14, 4-10 Crossroads League) were outscored by 15 after halftime and allowed the Pilots (23-3, 13-1 CL) to shoot 65 percent in the second half. Tre Olive tied for game honors with 20 points, highlighting a strong senior season against the archival Pilots. The first half saw six ties and several lead changes. Bethel remained in front for most of the half, although the lead was never greater than six. Braxton Linville and Olive were key figures in the first half, producing 12 points apiece. Linville was 2 for 2 on three-pointers and also hauled in six boards before halftime. Bethel went into halftime with a slight 43-40 advantage. To start the second half, the Pilots came out strong with a 10-3 run to open up a double-digit cushion. Logan Godfrey responded with a basket, and Linville buried his third trey of the game on the next play. But the Pilots quickly reopened a 10-point lead, which Grace was never able to penetrate. Olive did his best to keep Grace within striking distance, slashing his way through Bethel’s defense as the team’s primary facilitator. He hit two free throws with 7:38 to play to cut the Pilots’ advantage to 74-62. But the Lancers were unable to keep pace with Bethel’s offense and could not mount a significant comeback bid. As a team, Grace had just six assists on 27 made shots compared to 21 assists on 38 made shots for Bethel. Grace shot 44 percent from the floor while Bethel made 58 percent. The Lancers got to the foul line seven more times than the Pilots, but Bethel grabbed eight more rebounds. Linville finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, hitting 3 of 5 from beyond the arc. Logan Godfrey produced 10 points, seven boards and two blocks. Erik Bowen tallied nine points and two assists, Charlie Warner was 3 of 4 for six points and had two blocks, and Chad Hoffer also chipped in six points. The game was also likely the final matchup between legendary coaches Jim Kessler from Grace and Mike Lightfoot of Bethel. Lightfoot has announced he will retire at the end of this season. Former Triton High School star Clay Yeo led Bethel with 20 points, while Warsaw product Jordyn Coon finished with 13 points and Paul Forman added 12. Former Valley standout Nick Kindig scored eight points for the Pilots, while Triton product Tanner Shepherd chipped in with five. The Lancers will remain on the road Tuesday with a 7 p.m. game at Marian.
Track & Field MARION – Grace’s track and field team recorded its third straight NAIA qualifier to start the indoor season at the IWU Invitational on Saturday. The men’s 4x800-meter relay team of Hunter Reed, Tyler Houvener, Nathan Lane and Sam Hall hit the NAIA “A” qualifying standard with a time of 7:54.84. They follow Isaac Stuckey and Jacob Brown as Lancers who will represent Grace at the NAIA Indoor Nationals. Additionally, Paige Kindig and Raven Arellano both bettered their own school records on Saturday. Kindig cleared 10-feet-10 on the pole vault, beating her old mark by nearly five inches. Arellano smashed her time in the 3,000 by 20 seconds. She finished second in the meet with a time of 10:47.24. “There was some great competition this week, and we responded with some quality performances,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond. “The 4x800 relay started the day on a high note, Raven set her school mark in the 3,000 late in the day, and we had several personal bests set in between. It was a very full day for the Lancers.” Other standouts included Karla Singer, who placed second in the mile and had an indoor PR in the 5,000 to finish sixth. In the men’s 1,000, Hall and Houvener were third and fifth respectively, and Lane added a fourth-place showing in the mile. Arellano, in addition to her school record in the 3,000, added a fourth-place finish in the women’s mile. Hannah Treadway also ended up fifth in the weight throw, and Katelyn Shaver was eighth in the shot put. The Lancers will head to Upland this weekend for the Taylor Invitational.
