Stacie Cunningham harasses the Fighting Saints' point guard Sarah Carlson at the halfcourt line.
Bree Holleman posts up in the paint to defend the shot from the Fighting Saints. This shot was unsuccessful.
Tara Thielke lines up for a free throw attempt in the second half, in which she went 9-of-10 from the charity strip.
The Lady Owls' defense bottles up the Fighting Saints' star player, Esther Peterson, along the perimeter.
At the home of the K-M-S Fighting Saints in Kerkhoven, the Lady Owls battled hard for a 64-49 victory over one of the top teams in Section 5A-South. It did not come without a fight, though, as the Fighting Saints used ferocious perimeter defense to hang with the Lady Owls through most of the game, until stellar patience and excellent shot selection helped the Lady Owls stretch their lead for the game's final margin.
After Bree Holleman's three-pointer opened scoring for both teams 90 seconds into the game, the Fighting Saints took early leads of 7-3, 10-5, and 14-9 before the Lady Owls' offense got on track.
With 6:31 before halftime, Holleman's one-of-two performance at the free throw line finally got her team to 10 points, trailing 14-10. The Lady Owls' were showing steady and well-executed patience offensively, and it finally paid off when they exploded for 19 points over the final five minutes before halftime.
Trailing 16-11, Jenny Noordman's layup began the rally, and with 5:00 left in the first half, Holleman drained a trey from downtown to tie the game at 16-all. The Lady Owls found their legs and began running the fast breaks, taking their first lead since 12 minutes earlier in the game on Noordman's fadeaway jumper only 30 seconds after the game was tied up.
The Fighting Saints' answered back 20 seconds later on Esther Peterson's pullup shot in the lane to bring the game's second and final tie, 18-18. Noordmans hit the game's next two field goals, putting the Lady Owls ahead 22-18, on a layup and a paint shot off the glass. Chelsea Voorhees' two-for-two performance at the charity strip put her team on top 24-18 with 2:58 before halftime.
The defensive intensity was picking up for the Lady Owls as the final minutes ticked off the clock before halftime, and their first-class press was paying dividends with Holleman's three-point play putting her team ahead 27-18. The Fighting Saints quickly answered back with two layups of their own, though, before Voorhees' open paint shot with one minute on the clock capped the scoring for the first half, which ended with the Lady Owls ahead 29-22. They had just outscored the Fighting Saints 20-8 in the final 6:30 of the first half.
Holleman and Noordmans each had 10 points to lead the Lady Owls' offensive production before the first buzzer, with each hitting key shots from the outside as well as down low. Voorhees dropped six points, Stacie Cunningham had two points, and the Lady Owls' leading scorer, Tara Thielke, had only one point going into the locker room. They still maintained a seven point advantage, meaning only good things could happen in the second half if Thielke began putting in field goals of her own.
Coming out of the locker room, the Lady Owls continued their patience on offense and smart shot selection, beginning with Jenny Noordmans' short-range shot 45 seconds into the second half. She followed that one minute later with two free throws.
With three minutes gone in the second half, the Lady Owls were ahead 33-28. That would be the closest the Fighting Saints would get in the final frame, as the Lady Owls began pulling away as they began working the ball down low themselves, taking a page from the K-M-S offense that had been working the paint for most of their points.
Holleman, Noordmans, and Thielke all hit paint shots to lift their team on top 44-31 with 9:00 left in the game. The Fighting Saints continued trying to pound the ball in the paint, and the Lady Owls would answer back with every run made at them.
After the Fighting Saints got within eight, Stacie Cunningham's baseline shot put the Lady Owls ahead 47-37 with 7:00 remaining, and they would maintain a 10-to-13 point lead the rest of the way until Thielke's layup in the final seconds gave the Lady Owls their final margin of victory.
Lady Owls Boxscore: Stacie Cunningham 7, Bree Holleman 12 (5 assists), Chelsea Vorhees 9, Tara Thielke 18 (7 rebounds, 5 assists), Jenny Noordmans 18 (6 rebounds, 5 steals).
Esther Peterson, who led all scorers, led the Fighting Saints with 24 points and 9 rebounds.
The big win raises the Lady Owls' record against Section 5A opponents to 9-0 so far on the season.
Up next for the Lady Owls: their second meeting of the season with Ortonville, at the Hancock High School, next Tuesday (Jan 30) in a matchup between two Pheasant Conference and Section 5A-South teams. The Trojans will be out for revenge after getting hammered on their own court 69-50 by the Lady Owls last December 19. Ortonville's record in January is 5-2, so they have improved their level of play compared to December when they went a dismal 2-5.
Four of the Lady Owls' final six games are at home, which will help considerably taking into consideration that three of their final six games are also against Class AA teams. Three are must-win games against the following Section 5A teams: Ortonville, Wheaton-Herman-Norcross, and a tough Brandon-Evansville team. A
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