Pair of wins gives Eagles 11-1 record.

ANNA BROWN of Glen Lake drives past St.
Mary's Christy Miller on her way to the basket
last Thursday, Jan. 10. Herman and her Eagles'
teammates defeated the Lakers, 67-48.

St. Marys could be the only girls’ basketball team in the county to make a run in the state playoffs starting in March.

The Eagles are 11-1 overall, 3-0 in the Cherryland Conference after defeating two Northwest Conference teams over the last week. St. Mary defeated Leland on Tuesday, 65-46, and Glen Lake on the Lakers’ home court last Thursday, 67-48.

At Glen Lake, Eagles’ coach Paula Korson said the team started strong with senior Alyssa Korson penetrating the interior of the Lakers’ defense.

“Alyssa had a fantastic game, she really got inside against a team that plays excellent defense,” she said.

Glen Lake coach Pete Woessner said one of the team’s goals was to stop Korson from entering the key with the ball. “Once she gets into the lane, she makes things happen. We did not achieve this goal,” he said.

St. Mary led throughout with scores of 18-16, 40-26 and 52-40 at the quarter breaks.

It appeared the Eagles had the game in hand at the start of the second half when the Lakers started working their way back in. They outscored St. Mary 14-12 and rolled into the fourth quarter by narrowing the Eagles’ lead to three, 56-53, with three minutes to go in the game.

Coach Korson called a time out to regroup the St. Mary players. “That was a crucial time-out call for me. I just told the girls to refocus and get back into the game as Glen Lake was making a real run on us,” she said. The pep-talk worked as the Eagles pulled away and secured the win.

Woessner said St. Mary’s shooting percentage must have been phenomenal. “They were hitting every shot they could,” he said.

Alyssa Korson had 19 points, 11 rebounds, 6 steals and 5 assists to lead St. Mary. Christy Miller had 20 points, 5 rebounds; Susan Herman had 11 points; and Brooke Fortner had 5 rebounds. For Glen Lake, Paige Stachnik 14 points; Kaelyn Thayer had 9 points, 13 rebounds; Anna Brown had 10 points; Dani Frost 8 points; and Abbie Christiansen contributed 8 rebounds.

Glen Lake improved to 5-6 overall, 4-4 in the conference with a win at Mesick on Saturday, 45-37. The game was tied 6-all after one quarter, but the Lakers led afterward that with scores of 17-11 and 29-26 at the breaks.

Woessner said Glen Lake came out flat and were without the services of Thayer due to injury.
“We put on a full court press at the start of the fourth and created turnovers,” he said. The Lakers shot 40 percent in the second half. Stachnik had 17 points; Brown had 9 points, 9 rebounds; and Amanda Lautner had 7 rebounds.

The Lakers lost at home to Kingsley on Jan. 9 76-42. Glen Lake’s leading scorer was Stachnik with 13.

Suttons Bay lost at home to Elk Rapids Tuesday, 43-37. Coach Fred Wille said the Norsemen had an 11-9 lead after the first quarter, but the Elks took control and had a 18-16 lead at the half. By the end of three Elk Rapids had a 31-23 lead.

“I thought we played fairly well and were pretty even with the Elks,” Wille said. Beatrice Shannaquet had 10 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Norse. “Beatrice just became eligible to play again and she has been a real spark plug for us,” Wille said. Biri Luna had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Liz Callaway had 9 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.

At Leland on Saturday, the Comets and Norseman played a close game with Leland winning, 40-33. Comet coach Jon Kiessel said both teams were battling for the ball and he was pleased with his teams’ rebounding. “We’re not a very tall team and it was nice to see how well we did getting rebounds,” he said.

Erin Sneed had 9 points and 7 rebounds to lead the Comets;. Becky Stillin added 9 points and 6 assists. For Suttons Bay, Emily Send had 9 points, 7 rebounds; Luna had 6 points, 11 rebounds; and Arianna Guillen had 7 points, 4 steals.

On Jan. 9 Benzie traveled to Suttons Bay and won 62-35. Send had 18 points, 10 rebounds; Shannaquet had 7 points, 8 rebounds; and Callaway had 7 points, 7 rebounds. Suttons Bay is 2-10 overall, 1-8 in the Northwest Conference.

Leland defeated Mesick at it home gym on Jan. 9, 40-37. Coach Kiessel said the Comets were helped when Melissa Laredo played her first varsity game. “Melissa did a good job defensively and was able to fit right in with the varsity,” he said. Erin Sneed had 21 points including 12-of-16 shooting free throws. Leland is 5-6 overall, 3-4 in the Northwest.

Glen Lake will play at Suttons Bay on Saturday as part of an all-day basketball jamboree.

Leland will play at Benzie tonight and will travel to Buckley on Saturday.