Bobcats fend off Portagers’ rally
Brethren’s MacNeil posts triple-double

Brethren’s Maribel Acosta (11) is defended by Onekama’s Caitlin Zielinski during Monday’s game. (Dylan Savela/News Advocate)

BRETHREN — Annie MacNeil has a reputation in practice, and rightfully so.

“Her teammates sometimes wince before they shoot, because they know what could be coming,” said Brethren coach Julie Riggs with a smile. “She’s worked a lot on her timing on going after the ball and not the player, and that’s what makes her so effective down there.”

The Bobcat senior brought that paranoia to the paint Monday night in a 72-63 West Michigan D League win over Onekama. MacNeil had a triple-double with 12 blocks, 17 rebounds, and 13 points to go with five steals. Brethren’s Lexi Lakso scored a game-high 23 with eight boards.

“We were just trying to clog it up a bit down low,” MacNeil said of sending back a slew of shots. “(Riggs) had to remind us that this will be the last time we play them this year, so we need to go out with a bang.”

The Bobcats’ victory evened the series between the rivals, and was essentially a mirror image of Onekama’s win earlier in the season.

After a nip and tuck first quarter, the Bobcats closed the half on a 13-0 run that gave them a 39-28 lead heading into the locker rooms. Onekama’s rally however, was on the horizon.

“When we played at their place, we were down by about 20 and came back,” Riggs said of the Dec. 7 shortfall. “They ended up winning that one, but we knew this one could still go down to the wire.

“I told the girls at halftime that there’s a lot of game left in front of us.”

Riggs was right.

“We outscored them in every quarter but the second,” Onekama coach Nathan Bradford said. “We started off all right, but we went through that spell of a lack of energy.

“We need to get four quarters of that effort, but that second quarter we seemed to run out of gas.

Brethren’s Annie MacNeil (right) picks up one of her 12 blocks against Onekama’s Caitlin Zielinski. (Dylan Savela/Newa Advocate) >

“I told them after the game that I was happy that they at least came back and fought.”

Onekama, which was led by Alexis Tribfelner with 20 points and six steals, made up three points in the third to cut the gap to 52-42, and kicked the rally up a gear in the fourth.

After Brethren scored the first bucket of the fourth, Onekama went on a 13-2 run, and shortly after, tied the game at 59, before taking a one-point lead with two minutes remaining.

“We took the lead late, but then the ball just didn’t bounce our way,” Bradford said, “and I give Brethren credit, they made their free throws at the end.”

The Bobcats hit nine of their last 10 free throws in the fourth, to add to a 21-of-28 night from the line. MacNeil made two more blocks in the final few minutes to make Onekama’s rally a real challenge.

“We definitely needed to shot fake a little more tonight,” Bradford said. “The main thing when you’re playing against girls like (Annie), is squaring up, giving a shot fake, and going around.”

After watching their halftime lead dwindle away, the Bobcats kept their poise to close it out.

“We just had to take our time on offense,” MacNeil said. “We started kind of rushing. We just needed to take a breather.”

Riggs agreed.

“The key was just to take care of the ball. We had to make good passes,” she said. “For the most part we were patient with our offense tonight, and focused on playing our game.

“We just had to eliminate turnovers. They’re going to happen, but we don’t have to let them pile up on us.

“But I thought, overall, the key was going to be dominating the inside game.”

The Bobcats’ also saw contributions from Sarah Costello’s double-double with 10 points and 10 assists, Maribel Acosta with 12 points and seven boards, and Josie Judnic with nine points and seven rebounds.

Onekama’s Hailey Kott added 14 points, eight rebounds and three steals while Tawny Kott and Kayla Kosiboski each score nine.

The Onekama JV team beat Brethren 39-28. Kaylor DeWitt led Onekama with 12 points and Emma Putney had 11. Emily Modjeski, Emily Krause and Brooke Havier scored six apiece for the Bobcats.

Posted by Dylan Savela, Manistee News Advocate 2/18/13

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