First half defense by Lake Leelanau St. Mary (9-1) was just enough as the Eagles defeated Gaylord St. Mary Snowbirds (7-4) 53-44 in a battle of Catholic schools.
“It wasn’t our best game and we played kind of ugly. We haven’t played since Jan. 5 and that obviously showed,” St. Mary coach Clint Couturier said. “They did everything that we asked them to do and they left it all out on the floor so that’s all I can ask.”
The sixth-ranked Division 4 Eagle squad will learn how well they can fly when Glen Lake rows to Lake Leelanau last night.
St. Mary went into halftime with a 21-15 lead that was highlighted by stout Eagle defensive play. St. Mary junior Cathryn Mikowski provided the offensive spark in the first half with nine points.
The Snowbirds were not going away as they threatened to take the lead multiple times in the second half.
St. Mary junior Kyla Barnowski had three points in the first half, before exploding for 16 points in the second half.
“The first half I was definitely gassed out of breath and then halftime definitely helped me just calm down and realize that I just needed to chill out and play basketball,” Barnowski said.
Barnowski finished with a double-double of 19 points, 14 rebounds, along with senior Leah Fleis with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Della Bunek was assertive with nine points, five rebounds, while Muriel Korson hit crucial shots down the stretch for seven points.
The Snowbirds were led by Kaylee Jeffers with 22 points.
“(Gaylord St. Mary) is tough. You are not going to hold that team under 40 points very often... We scrapped and hustled,” coach Couturier said. “We have to grow on tonight’s lessons we learned, continue to see each other on the court and value basketball. If we do those two things, the other things take care of themselves.”
