Three Rivers beats Paw Paw
Otsego started strongly, hitting for a high percentage, and never looked back in a 71-32 win over host Sturgis in a Wolverine cross-division contest Tuesday.
“They did and we didn’t do a good job of matching up as well,” Trojan coach Amie Burger said. “We gave (Grace) Verhage wide open looks at the 3-point and she knocked down four and we were trying figure out things from there.”
Verhage, who scored 12 of her game-high 22 points in the initial quarter, helped Otsego (10-6) grab a 18-2 lead at the end of eight minutes.
Sturgis (7-8) had issues with the Bulldog press, one of the first times all season the Trojans struggled attacking pressure.
“We were forcing things a little bit too much,” Burger said. “We had tons of turnovers off the press. That’s the first time it’s actually hurt us all year. We never could get the girls to settle down enough just to see the court before they made the pass.”
The times Sturgis handled the press, the shots were not falling against the taller Bulldogs.
“When we got the the offensive end, we were trying to attack the whole time,” Burger said. “We did get some looks, we just didn’t finish shots we normally do, just because we were making adjustments and thinking we were going to get blocked. That didn’t help us either.”
The Trojans were able to put together a decent offensive effort during the second half of the second quarter playing even with Otsego. It was aided by Janella Garcia, who scored four points off the bench and Madison Pueschel who had a pair of triples.
“Janella Garcia came in and played some good minutes for us tonight,” Burger said.
Otsego led 35-14 at halftime.
The third quarter was relatively even as well with De’Ashia Sanders tossing in seven points and Sage Groves getting four to allow the Bulldogs to only increase the margin by two to 48-25.
Otsego pulled away in the fourth as the short-handed Trojans began to tire and foul trouble mounted. Lindsay Kiss was out with illness, Brianna Wheeler was a bit under the weather, Baleigh Brazo went out with an injury in the third quarter and Sanders got her fourth foul early in the final period.
“It’s always nice if you can use your bench and some of the girls who normally don’t get time, got a lot of time tonight,” Burger said. “They deserve those minutes as well.”
Sanders finished with a team-high nine points for Sturgis, Groves and Pueschel each chipped in with six, Madisyn Wanamaker and Janella Garcia each added four, Wheeler had two and Brooke Bodi had a free throw.
Mattison Rayman finished with 11 for Otsego, Caitlin Kitchen tallied eight, Jaycie Callaway and Ambreanna Powell each ended with seven, Liz Barwegen notched six, Kaelyn Arlington scored four, Kristen Brylowski added three, Alexis Petty had two and Lauren Nieboer had a free throw.
Sanders corralled six rebounds for Sturgis, while Brazo collected five, Garcia and Bodi each added four and Pueschel had three. Groves had three assists and three steals, while Bodi grabbed two steals.
Otsego won the junior varsity game, 49-31.
Rylee Wanamaker topped the Trojans with 13 points, Shelby Bennett tossed in 10 and Jimena Garcia Carmona, Samantha Haley, Rachel Toner and Adara Owsley each added two.
Skylar Anderson led the Bulldogs with 13 points, while Olivia Stam chipped in with 11.
Three Rivers 65, Paw Paw 35
Three Rivers took a 16-4 first quarter lead and went on to beat Paw Paw 65-35 Tuesday night.
The Lady Cats outscored Paw Paw in all four quarters. Three Rivers led 37-18 at the end of the first half.
“We had a good focus right out of the gate to get a 10-0 lead. We did a nice job controlling the boards and getting extra opportunities that led to points,” coach Jason Bingaman said. “I liked how patient we were with our traps after we got in some foul trouble early in the second, we were still able to force turnovers and push the ball.”
Hadley Miller led the Lady Cats with 21 points, six assists, eight rebounds and four steals. Kali Heivilin added a double double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and three steals.
Alivia Knapp had nine, followed by Diamond Carter with eight, Jessica Barnes added six, Izzy Taylor and Tessa Hawkins both chipped in two.
Jonesville 44, Bronson 43
Bronson fell on the road to Jonesville 44-43.
The Lady Vikings led 14-7 after the first quarter, but Jonesville rallied to trail by one, 19-18 at the break.
Kiana Mayer led the Lady Vikings with 17 points, followed by Payton Robinson with 10, Ashton Wronikowski added seven, Kiera Lasky chipped in five and Keona Salesman had four.
Wronikowski led Bronson with eight rebounds, both Adyson Lasky and Kiera Lasky had three assists.
The Lady Vikings JV team lost 40-17. Madison Ratkowski led with six points, while Lizandra Trujillo had four and Skye Woodman scored three.
Centreville 62, Bangor 18
Centreville kept their SW10 record perfect with a 62-18 win over Bangor.
The Lady Bulldogs led 11-5 after the first quarter and led 24-7 at the half.
Centreville outscored Bangor 38-11 in the second half.
Joanna Larsen had a game high 16 followed by Kayla Gest had nine, Olivia Deeds seven, Carly Todd, Carlee Odom and Samara Schlabach all scored six.
Abby Nighswonger had four, MaKenzi Troyer, Molly Kirby, Brittany Morris and Kenleigh West-Wing all added two.
Schlabach led Centreville with 12 rebounds, while both Odom and Todd had five assists each.
St. Philip 61, Colon 31
Battle Creek St. Philip took a 19-4 first quarter lead and defeated Colon 61-31.
The Tigers went on to outscore the Lady Magi 30-16 in the second half.
Keagan Bower led Colon with 10 points and four rebounds, Brooke Hinkley had five points, three rebounds and two assists and Lyndsay Smith added four points, five rebounds and two blocks.
Katelyn Leitch had four points, while Ashley Vallance, Katelyn Walls, Rebekah Scofield and MaryJane Muntain all had two.
Constantine 44, Lawton 28
Constantine picked up a home SAC win 44-28 over Lawton.
Hannah Outlaw had her fourth double/double of the year, scoring 13 and adding 11 rebounds. She also recorded three steals.
Mackenzi Dobosiewicz had nine points, six rebounds and two steals, Hannah Ley had nine points, four rebounds and two blocks and Kiara Price added six points.
“We are starting to play to our potential and its exciting to see the girls work together for 32 minutes. We cant always control our offense; but we can always control our defense. and since the girls have bought into this concept, we have been more successful,” Schlosser said.
Marcellus 47, Bloomingdale 45
Sparked by a game high 16 points by Savannah Lowery, Marcellus defeated Bloomingdale 47-45.
The Lady Wildcats trailed 14-10 after the first quarter, but rallied a took a 25-22 lead into the break.
Morgan Hartline also scored in double figures with 10.
Grace Mihills and Jana Hewig both chipped in eight, Samantha Daugherty added three and Tessa Henry had two.
Mendon 51, White Pigeon 38
Mendon beat White Pigeon 51-38 on Tuesday.
Mendon led 6-3 after one and 18-16 at the break. The Lady Hornets held a 33-21 edge in the second half.
Cierra Nightingale led with 20 points and 13 rebounds for Mendon, Hayley Kramer added 10 points and 10 rebounds while Hannah Duchene had seven points and 15 boards.
Amaijha Bailey added four points, five rebounds and five assists, MacKenzie Urick and Taylor Heitkamp each had four points while Aubrey Crotser tossed in two.
White Pigeon was led by Claycee West with 22 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Shanna Hagner had eight points and five points, Sydney Mishler had three points, Clara Varela had three points and six points while Katie Long had two points.