Onaway girls’ beat RC, 38-33

4914-Onaway girls basketball

 

 

by Richard Lamb

Outlook Editor

Both teams showed signs of rust as the 2014-15 girls’ basketball season opened with Onaway at Rogers City.

That was to be expected for the Lady Cards, as six of the 10 players had just a week to concentrate on basketball after the long volleyball playoff run.

But after a few trips down the floor, Onaway found their groove and came back from an 8-0 deficit to notch a 38-33 win over the Hurons.

“There is a lot of growth yet to be done, but we did a lot of little things correctly tonight. There were a lot of times where we were in position to get easy buckets that we didn’t capitalize on,” said Onaway coach Marty Mix.

Senior guard Morganne Badgero sparked the comeback in the first quarter with five straight points. Trailing 10-8 after the first quarter, Onaway took the lead on a 3-pointer by Shyanne Corey in the first possession of the second quarter. Onaway never trailed after that point, but the Hurons made it close in the closing moments of the game.

AFTER A 7-0 Cardinal run midway through the third quarter made it 33-20, the Hurons mounted a charge. Two baskets by Sami Bober to close the period made it 33-24 heading into the final frame.

Alexa Quaine’s put-back cut the lead to six and several Onaway turnovers caused coach Mix to call a timeout. With stepped up pressure from Rogers City, the Cardinals were sent to the free throw line. Elise Arkwood sank 2-of-4 attempts to increase the lead to 35-26 with 4:59 left in the game.

Again the Hurons made a run, cutting the lead to 35-31 before a Badgero free throw with 29 seconds left. The Hurons’ Ally Streich’s hoop inside cut the lead to three with just 16 seconds left. Then, forced to foul, the Hurons sent Corey to the line and she buried two for the final margin of 38-33.

“We got a little gun-shy in that fourth quarter. I actually called timeout and told them ‘that is not us, On

away isn’t afraid of anything.’ I made them repeat it,” Mix said. “They want to play hard and they want to win and I respect that.”

Arkwood paced the scoring attack with nine points, on two 3-pointers and three free throws. Corey scored eight and Lexi Szymoniak added seven.

For the Hurons Cassidy Purgiel had 11 points and Bober added six.

IN THE junior varsity game, Rogers City took a 49-23 win over Onaway. The junior Hurons led 15-7 after the first quarter and 26-11 at halftime. Sammy Pasella and Skylar Bulter each scored six points while Madison McLean added five.

Hannah Fleming scored 10 points for Rogers City while Erika Peacock, Sydney Purgiel and Kayla Rabeau each scored eight.