Marysville High School girls basketball coach Mindy Eisnaugle felt her team needed a game in which to bounce back from Tuesday’s loss against Hilliard Davidson.
The Lady Monarchs got exactly that Friday evening when they rolled to a 51-27 victory over Westland.
“We needed a game to get back our confidence,” said Eisnaugle. “We got a lot of girls some court time tonight and I think we accomplished what we wanted to do.”
The Cougars tallied the first points of the game within the opening seconds of the contest. They were, however, held in check for the next four minutes until they scored another basket.
In the meantime, MHS (2-1) notched points from Kinzie and Sydney Lee and Sarah O’Neil to grab a 10-2 advantage.
Tajahnae McClure, the Cougars’ leading scorer, scored her team’s final points of the quarter.
Katherine Hazelbaker scored twice and Allie Rioch added a free throw to send MHS into the second period with a 15-4 lead.
Hazelbaker buried a three-pointer as Marysville gradually upped its advantage to 20-7.
The Lady Monarchs then hit a dry spell as several good looks at the basket failed to find the mark.
“We’ve struggled shooting the ball,” admitted Eisnaugle. “Fortunately, we’re getting some offensive rebounds on those misses. I told the girls to keep shooting and they will eventually fall.”
The Cougars could not capitalize, despite MHS’ cold snap.
Westland came up with a number of empty possessions, either on errant shot attempts or turnovers.
Sydney Lee converted a steal into a layup with a little more than two minutes to play in the half to break the spell.
O’Neil then scored twice to help push Marysville out to a 26-13 halftime lead.
Westland went without McClure’s services for much of the first half as she sat with foul trouble.
The Cougars’ offensive woes continued during the third stanza as they managed just three points.
As a result, the Lady Monarchs (who will travel to Grove City this afternoon) took a 40-16 lead into the final eight minutes and coasted to victory.
Marysville
Hazelbaker 5-0-11, S. Lee 5-1-11, O’Neil 3-2-8, A. Rioch 3-1-7, Cook 2-1-5, Sutter 2-0-4, K. Lee 1-1-3, J. Rioch 1-0-2, Daniel 0-0-0, Francisco 0-0-0, Welsh 0-0-0, Roby 0-0-0. Totals 22-6-51.
Three-point goal: Hazelbaker 1.
Westland
McClure 5-2-13, N. Abdikedier 2-3-7, Powell 1-2-4, Schwart 1-0-2, Kenshaw 0-1-1, Hutchinson 0-0-0, Berete 0-0-0, Garver 0-0-0, S. Abdikedier 0-0-0, Hoard 0-0-0. Totals 9-8-27.
Three-point goal: McClure 1.
The MHS jayvees upped their record to 2-1 with a 55-17 victory during the preliminary game.
Kassidy Lee scored 14 points for the Jr. Monarchs.