Millington freshman Elizabeth Selich makes a pass during Thursday night’s win over LakeVille. Selich would finish with seven points, six rebounds, and four assists. (photo by Kevin Gregory)
By Tom Gilchrist and Mike Gallagher
Advertiser Staff
MILLINGTON — About two months ago, a young Millington girls basketball team had lost its first four games and committed a total of 77 turnovers in two games against Reese and Unionville-Sebewaing Area.
The Cardinals have grown up a bit since then.
Millington defeated LakeVille 51-45 on Thursday night for its ninth win in the past 12 games, increasing its overall record to 9-7.
“We’re getting better,” said Millington coach Aaron Chamberlain. “This was a huge win for us. (LakeVille) was a good basketball team. They’re a 10-win team.”
Millington freshman guard Sydney Olmstead led the Cardinals with 17 points, while Hailey Murray — the team’s lone senior — added 14 and grabbed 11 rebounds. Millington sophomore guard Haley Trickey dropped in nine points and made five steals, while freshman center Elizabeth Selich scored seven points.
As for turnovers, the Cardinals committed 18, less than half of what they were committing in early-season losses to Reese and USA.
“We can put the ball in any of our guards’ hands and they can do anything you ask them to do with the basketball, but they’re understanding the difference between dribbling and ballhandling,” Chamberlain said. “Over the course of the season they’ve gotten a lot better at handling the ball in specific situations.
“They’re understanding when to attack a trap, how to attack a full-court press, when to attack in transition and when to pull it back out and get us into an offensive set and an offensive rhythm.”
Millington, now 6-4 in the Tri-Valley Conference East Division, led 23-20 at halftime over LakeVille, which fell to 10-7 overall and 6-5 in the TVC-East with the loss. Baskets by LakeVille’s Lauren Weiss and Kristin Knickerbocker, however, knotted the score at 39-39 with 4:40 remaining in the game.
A basket by Millington’s Selich, however, gave the Cardinals a 41-39 lead, and a 3-pointer by Olmstead upped the Millington lead to 44-39 with 2:37 left. Millington made enough free throws in the fourth quarter — seven of 14 in the period — to help close out the Falcons.
LakeVille coach Dan Pardee employed several zone defenses during the game.
“Millington is a good-shooting team and we’re a team that plays zone (defense), and we can’t be who we’re not,” Pardee said. “I thought we played hard tonight. I wasn’t disappointed in our effort. … Millington made some big shots down the stretch and we turned the ball over a couple too many times.”
Knickerbocker led LakeVille with 13 points, with Breanna Thygesen adding 11.
Akron-Fairgrove 28, Owen-Gage 23: The Vikings defeated the Bulldogs on their home court Friday night. Akron-Fairgrove led 15-9 after the first half, and used a strong defensive effort in the second half to seal the conference win. Ally Reif led the Vikings with nine points, and Megan Hiser scored eight points. Alyson Witzke scored a game-high 15 points for the Bulldogs. Akron-Fairgrove (6-9, 3-4) visits Cass City on Tuesday, and Owen-Gage (7-10, 3-6) travels to North Huron on Thursday.
Sandusky 37, Kingston 17: The Redskins handed the Cardinals their third loss of the season Friday night at home. Sandusky, the #7 team in class C, ran out to 16-6 halftime lead, and held Kingston to only 11 second half points en route to the victory. Brooke Krueger led all scorers with nine points for Sandusky. Keegan Nelson and Jessica Kursinsky both scored eight points for the Redskins. Madison Cofer and Jenna Boyl led Kingston with six points apiece. Kingston (12-3, 9-0) host Peck Monday, and Sandusky (13-1, 6-0) plays Almont at home Tuesday.
North Branch’s Calla McNulty (left), and Caro’s Cameryn Brown go up for the opening tip-off in Thursday’s game.
North Branch 41, Caro 28: Coach Tim Gormley’s Broncos traveled to Caro on Thursday and defeated the Tigers, compiling a 25-13 lead after three quarters en route to the Tri-Valley Conference East Division win. Calla McNulty scored 13 points and Aerial Skinner added 12 for North Branch, with Lauren Bickel scoring six. Sarah Brown scored 12 points to lead Caro, while teammate Melissa Cockerill tallied 11.
Reese 47, Vassar 22: Reese sealed the road win Thursday with a big third quarter, outscoring Vassar 15-5 in that period. Reyna Frost poured in 26 points for the Rockets and grabbed eight rebounds. Frost also blocked five shots and made five assists as Reese improved to 7-0 in the Greater Thumb Conference West Division. Maddie Coulter added nine points for the Rockets. Becca Huizar led Vassar with seven points.
Genesee 60, Mayville 26: Miranda Zaremba scored 11 points for Mayville and Lauryn Frenzel added 10, but host Genesee prevailed Thursday. Alexis Vance tallied 18 points and Kelsey Newcomb collected 16 for the Wolves, who raced to a 20-4 lead after the first quarter. Frenzel grabbed 12 rebounds for the Wildcats, and Teddi Sweeney made three steals.
Frankenmuth 75, Essexville Garber 16: The Eagles hit eleven 3-pointers, including eight in the first half, en route to a season-high 75 points and a conference victory at home Thursday night. Sophomore LIndsey Mertz led Frankenmuth with 17 points, while grabbing seven rebounds. “Lindsey has had a great week for us,” stated Frankenmuth coach Tom Keller. “She has really stepped up her play, which is great for us as we prepare for a tournament run.” The Eagles ran out to a 53-8 halftime lead, holding the Dukes to only one bucket in the second quarter. Kendra Kujat scored 16 points, while Madison Walter added 14 and Elizabeth Laux chipped in 10. Frankenmuth (15-2, 11-0) hosts Caro on Thursday.