| By DARRYL MELLEMA, Associate Editor, Moose Magazine |
Mooseheart sophomore guard Katie Stryker looks for a passing opportunity in the Ramblers season-opening victory over Kirkland-Hiawatha. Stryker scored 20 points in the contest.
Senior forward Basheeba Mays (No. 22) dribbles toward the free throw lane in Mooseheart's 55-42 win over Kirkland-Hiawatha, Mays scored 8 points before leaving with an injured ankle in the second half.
Mooseheart girls basketball coach Bryan Miller uses a first half timeout to energize his team. The Ramblers, who trailed 17-5 at one point, rallied to defeat Kirkland-Hiawatha by 13 points.
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MOOSEHEART, IL - There was a point Monday night when the thought of Mooseheart opening-night celebrations seemed very far off indeed.
But the Ramblers rallied from a 17-5 deficit early in the second quarter and finished as runaway 55-42 victors over Kirkland-Hiawatha in the first game of the season for both teams.
"Bryan kept saying 'don't look at the scoreboard,'" Mooseheart sophomore guard Katie Stryker said of Ramblers coach Bryan Miller. "All we did was to try to play our game. Eventually, we played it and they couldn't handle it
Playing before a large opening-night crowd at Mooseheart's fieldhouse, the Ramblers only had a Stryker basket and a Kim Phillips three-pointer to show for their first half efforts.
"I think that we came out a little slow," Mooseheart sophomore guard Santana Sanchez said. "But then at halftime, we picked it up. We wanted to show everyone who came out that we are really going to be good this season."
The Ramblers rallied and trailed only 25-23 at halftime. A pair of Basheeba Mays baskets put Mooseheart ahead early in the second half.
After some see-saw action, the hosts put on a killer run. Sanchez scored nine of her 13 points in the third quarter as the Ramblers opened a 40-34 advantage.
"Last year, the third quarter would kills us - we would just drop," Sanchez said. "This year, I'm glad that we can pick it up and move forward instead of moving backward."
Stryker scored 20 points to lead the Ramblers in scoring. She had 12 of the team's 23 first-half points, and added six points in the fourth quarter, mostly on fast break opportunities.
"We worked hard," Stryker said. "We got down but we worked hard and pushed ourselves."
Stryker and Sanchez worked well together in the open court.
"That's from middle school," Miller said. "They've been playing together awhile now and they work well together. They have that sense of where the other's going to be."
Cyeria Brown scored 20 points to lead Kirkland-Hiawatha.
Statistics
Mooseheart 55, Kirkland Hiawatha 42
Kirkland Hiawatha: |
Brown 9 2-2 20,
Lundgren 0 0-0 0,
Burgweger 0 0-0 0,
Lutz 2 4-14 9,
Leonard 0 0-0 0,
Schmidt 0 0-0 0,
Murray 0 0-0 0,
Hauck 3 3-4 10,
Meyer 0 0-0 0,
Maynard 1 1-2 3,
Percudani 0 0-0 0,
Stone 0 0-0 0.
Totals 15 10-22 42. |
| Mooseheart: |
D'Andrea 1 0-0 2,
Dillon 0 0-0 0,
Stryker 7 5-7 20,
Gomez 0 0-0 0,
Sanchez 5 2-5 13,
Phillips 2 0-0 5,
Mays 4 0-0 8,
Torres 0 0-1 0,
Tolson 1 0-0 2,
Ellsworth 1 3-9 5.
Totals 21 10-22 55 |
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Kirkland-Hiawatha 15 10 9 8 - 42
Mooseheart 5 18 17 15 - 55
3-point goals: Lutz 1, Hauck 1, Stryker 1, Sanchez 1, Phillips 1.
Fouled out: Hauck, Maynard.
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