Keith MacPherson, Sports Editor
ERA — Era coach Don Neu couldn’t help but admit it was strange playing his former team.
That didn’t stop him from helping his team to victory, though.
The former Lindsay coach and the Lady Hornets took down the Lady Knights 58-46 to District 13-1A play on Friday.
“It was very weird,” said Nue, who spent 14 years at Lindsay before leaving in April. “But it was a district game, that’s what made it important.”
Neu won 253 games while at Lindsay while making two trips to the UIL state tournament. He led the Lady Knights to the Class 1A state championship in 2007.
While Neu left a legacy at Lindsay, it was his Era team that impressed Friday night.
The Lady Hornets (12-9, 1-0) used a 24-10 second quarter to pull away from a Lindsay after tight first quarter and kept the pressure up from there.
“We played to our tempo,” Nue said. “That’s what we wanted to do all night. Once we were able to do that we were able to get to the basket more.”
Hannah Erwin splashed in a midrange jumper to cap an 18-6 run in the second quarter. Erwin finished with 11 points.
Lady Hornet Sydney Beuthien had a game-high 27 points, scoring 24 points from the field. Haley Knabe had nine points and Logan Knabe had seven.
Logan Knabe and Beuthien combined for the last seven points of the third quarter as the Hornets took a 54-35 lead into the final quarter.
Lindsay wouldn’t give up that easy, though. Despite the double-digit lead deficit, the Lady Knights outscored the Lady Hornets 11-4 in the final stanza.
Lindsay’s Hayley Skinner scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter for the Lady Knights, including a 3-pointer with 2:45 to go.
Skinner finished with a team-high 19 points - 15 of which came from downtown. Jalyn Anderle added 12 points for Lindsay.
“I thought Lindsay did a really good job tonight,” Nue said. “Hats off to them.”
With district play now in full swing, Nue said Friday’s game was a good start for his team.
“It’s a very big win,” he said. “Just because it’s the start of district. I thought we played pretty well.”
