St. Mary improved to 12-1 overall with a 74-48 girls’ basketball win over former Cherryland Conference contender Buckley last Thursday night.

STEFFANIE PRIEST keeps a close guard on
Buckley's Amanda Youker during St. Marys
74-48 win at home Thursday night.

The Eagles jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the first quarter and never looked back, as the Bears get no closer than eight points the rest of the game. St. Mary maintained its lead with scores of 22-11, 47-21 and 58-34 at the breaks.

Coach Paula Korson said a key for the Eagles’ dominance was holding Buckley senior Kaitlin Moyer to 10 points. “Kaitlin has averaged 20 points a game this season. Keeping her to 10 is a testament to our defense,” she said.

Alyssa Korson had 18 points and 9 steals to lead the Eagles. Christy Miller had 15 points, Allison Korson added 9, Brooke Fortner had 13 rebounds and 8 points, and senior Susan Herman had 7 assists, 6 steals and 6 points. Anne Kuznicki and Bradi Pasch each chipped in with 7 points. “Anne has really stepped up her effort and is showing me something. The whole team is playing really well,” Coach Korson said.

It was Wildcats vs. Wildcats at Alba Tuesday night, but Northport came up short 53-38 in a bid for its second win of the season. Coach Gary Longcore said his team played with Alba for most of the evening, but ran out of steam in the final stanza.

“We got within six points of them with six minutes to go in the game. But, we made some mistakes on defense and they got three quick baskets to keep the lead,” he said. Alba led with scores of 15-10 and 26-19 through the first two quarters. Northport outscored Alba 15-14 in the third, but Alba dominated the fourth with a 15-4 scoring edge.

Senior Betsy Shiner had 11 points to lead Northport. Heaven Firestone added 10 points and Shauna Sitarek netted 9. Longcore said Octavia Buss and Emily Stowe did an outstanding job on defense. “I wanted to try something new and Octavia and Emily stepped up and did a really good job,” he said.

St. Mary will host the T-C Bulldogs tonight, Glen Lake on Tuesday and will play at Suttons Bay on Wednesday, Jan. 30. Northport will host the T-C Bulldogs on Friday and Leland on Wednesday.