ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLE BASKETBALL

ELYRIA LADY EAGLES DEFEATS CANTON/GALVA BY 8

By Staff

            ELYRIA – After falling behind early, the Elyria Christian girls’ basketball team bounced back to score an eight-point, 44-36, win over Canton/Galva in front of the home fans on Friday.

            “This was a great game to start the new year,” pointed out Elyria head coach Greg Fields. “You could tell that we had not played a game in several weeks, especially in the first quarter as I don’t know that I have seen us turn the ball over as much as we did tonight, though I give a lot of credit to the Canton/Galva defense.”

            That first quarter is when the Canton/Galva girls came out a stormed to a seven-point, 9-16, lead over Elyria before the Lady Eagles powered back and outscored Canton/Galva 1705 in the second quarter to take a five-point, 26-21, lead into the  halftime break.

            Coming out of halftime, the Lady Eagles outscored Canton/Galva 18-15 in the final two quarters to gain the  final eight-point victory.

            Coach Fields continued his reflections on the  game by adding, “those girls really came out and played tough, and it took us quite a while to calm down on offense while not letting them speed us up. I thought we did a good job being stronger on the glass in the second half as we were down significantly to them in rebounds at halftime, so we challenged the team, and they really responded well in that area.”

            Freshman Sidney Hall led the Lady Eagles both in scoring with 14 points and rebounding with six while Joy Pyle pitched in with a dozen points, five rebounds and four blocked shots. Grace Prescott directed the offense and recorded eight assists. Addison Swenson just missed double digits in the score column with nine.

            Concluding his post-game comments, coach Fields said, “This was Sidney Hall’s first full game with us, and she showed what kind of difference maker she can be. To come in and lead the team in scoring and rebounding is huge for a freshman who is still learning the plays. Joy (Pyle)was right with her in both scoring and rebounding while being a great rim protector with her four blocked shots. Addison (Swenson) was incredibly tough tonight and battled through a very physical game with great leadership. It was also exciting for me to see the maturity that Grace Prescott showed as she endured a lot of pressure in the full court and came through the adversity to dish out eight assists.”

            The Lady Eagles return to action on Tuesday, hosting the Reno County Sabres.

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLE BASKETBALL hosting Canton/Galva, Friday, January 10

SCORING = Elyria Lady Eagles won 44-36.

Elyria Lady Eagles = 9-17-13-5 = 44; Canton/Galva = 16-5-11-4 = 36.

TEAM STATS =

Elyria Lady Eagles = 2fgs – 13/15; 3pts – 5/16; fts – 3/10; asst – 14; rebs (o/d) – 17 (5/12); stls – 14; blks – 4; to – 32; fls – 15. Canton/Galva = 2fgs – 9/21; 3pts – 4/12; fts – 6/19; rebs (o/d) – 14 (6/8); stls – 13; blks – 1; to – 24; fls – 14.

ELYRIA LADY EAGLE INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS =

Scoring (44) = Sidney Hall – 14; Joy Pyle – 12; Addison Swenson – 9; Grace Prescott – 5; Amelia Moody – 4. 3-Pointers Made (5) = Swenson – 2; Hall, Prescott, Moody – 1.

Assists (14) = Prescott – 8; Swenson – 3; Hall – 2; Kami Noogle – 1.

Rebounds (17) = Hall – 6; Pyle – 5; Swenson, Prescott – 2; Moody, Noogle – 1.

Steals (14) = Prescott – 5; Hall, Moodey – 3; Pyle, Swenson, Noogle – 1.

Blocks (4) = Pyle – 4.

 (The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at macks.people.places@gmail.com)