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) >
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“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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