The Heat 'Midst the Cold
Goessel Basketball – @ Goessel v. Rural Vista Thursday, February 20, 2025
In a memorable week of arctic cold with several school cancellations and activities re-scheduled, Goessel found
itself playing a Wheat State League match on a Thursday night. Against a very young but promising Rural Vista
team, the Bluebirds came out strong and were never behind tonight. Aimee Funk buried one at the 6:00 mark
to go up 5-0 and pressure D up front led to turnovers and quick finishes. Delaney Duerksen slalomed one into
Logan Bryant for two more and Abbigail Funk went strong to the window, was fouled and hit the front end for
the 11-8 lead. On the inbounds, a Heat bench player got excited and scored for the Bluebirds making it 13-8, a
rare “own goal” event that happened so quick many fans didn’t even get to witness it.
Funk followed a Bryant miss to lead 15-8, then Brooklyn Wuest notched a steal with a quick flip to Duerksen for
two more. Abbigail used quick hands on D, hit the road running, and went coast to coast to lead 19-10. A nice
over the top to Wuest made it 21-10, but the Heat were able to add a bucket off the glass navigating 30 feet in
5 seconds to close the 8-4 quarter at 21-12.
At 4:30 in the 3 rd quarter, Abbigail drained one from WNBA range, then Aimee found pay dirt from so far back
the cheer team’s pompoms all flew spontaneously toward the streaming camera, causing numerous reports of
UFO’s on Marion County 911. 27-18. Goessel’s trapping half court press continued to flummox the young
Heat squad, and Aimee Funk had three quick scores off steal/turnovers. At 6:20 in the 4 th , Abbigail made it 36-
22 off a nifty finish and this one closed out 40-30.
The Bluebirds won three of four quarters tonight, 13-8, 8-4, 13-10, and 6-8. Aimee Funk led the way with 17
followed by Abbigail with 13, Delaney Duerksen 4 and both Logan Bryant and Brooklyn Wuest tallied 2.
Scorekeepers credited Wuest with the “own score” so she finished with a booked 4 points.
-Karl Brubaker
