Emily Gartner

The Hiawatha Lady Red Hawks have improved their record from just one win last season to five so far this year.  But, that record doesn’t show all the improvements from a very young team.  While the Red Hawks are 5-13 on the season, 7 of their 13 losses have come by eight points or less, and they rarely have few than 3 under-classmen on the floor.

One key reason for the Red Hawks improvement this year has been the stellar play of sophomore, Emily Gartner.  She has continually put up double-doubles throughout the season and recently has averaged 30.3 points per game in the last four outings, although Hiawatha came up just short in the games.

Four games ago, Gartner put up her second 30+ point performance with 31 points against Nemaha Valley helping push the game into overtime, were the Red Hawks fell just by eight points. Emily followed that game up with a 32 point showing in another eight point loss versus Royal Valley.

Last week, Gartner posted 22 against ACCHS in a one-point ballgame and then had her best point total in the most recent game scoring 36 points against Perry Lecompton, but the Red Hawks fell in overtime.

The sophomore has been a force to be reckoned with all season for Hiawatha as she’s averaged about 20 points and 16 rebounds to go along with 2 blocks per game.  Gartner is finishing the 2014 portion of the season on a recent tear and now hopes to get the Redhawks over the hump and peaking towards March Madness.   

Improvement has been the story of the year for the Red Hawks as they’ve won four more games than the previous season and been in multiple other contests with a young team, and a second year coach in Jolene Bannister.   Gartner and her teammates are looking to make a strong push at the end of the season and continue to grow the next few years, to progress as a team.