By Staff
GOESSEL – It was not the prettiest cross county battle, but it was the one the Lady Eagles from Canton/Galva and Elyria Christian made in Goessel on Saturday in their final game of the Bluebird Classic with the Elyria Lady Eagles coming out with the victory, 34-18.
The loss drops Canton/Galva to 1-3 for the season as they hit the week running with home games on Monday and Tuesday when Marion and Lyons come to town before closing out the week on Friday on the road at Centre.
“We never got going offensively and I will take the blame as the coach for not having them ready to go,” pointed out Canton/Galva head coach Brad Willems.
With the win, Elyria Christian evens their season record at 2-2 with a road trip to Sedgwick on Tuesday and a home tangle with Solomon on Friday laying ahead.
“This was a good win against a solid Canton/Galva team,” noted Elyria head coach Greg Fields. “Coach Willems is doing a really nice job of getting his girls to play with a tough and aggressive mindset. We were fortunate that they missed some open looks, or we could have had a much closer game.”
Canton/Galva struggled to get the offense going in the first quarter which found Elyria jumping out to an 11-2 lead before pushing their lead to 15 at 22-7 by the halftime break.
After Canton/Galva chipped a few points off the deficit in the third quarter, Elyria put the game away for good in the fourth stanza to get the final 16-point win.
Coach Willems finished his reflections on the Canton/Galva loss by saying, “Elyria came out and executed better than we did, and they hit shots. We will need to use this to get better from and we don’t have to wait long because we have three games this next week.”
The difference in the game when looking at the stat sheet most likely will be the three-point shots as Canton/Galva connected on just one of ten while the Elyria girls made six of fifteen.
Overall, it was Trinity Espinoza who led Canton/Galva as she scored ten of the teams 18 points.
Allie Stone made five of the Elyria six three-pointers to lead them in scoring with 15 points while Ryland Hawkinson recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Julia Allen grabbed five rebounds and both Stone and Macy Reiff dished out four assists.
Coach Fields concluded his thoughts on the game for the Elyria girls by adding, “We lost out intensity a little after halftime, but I felt like our seniors did a nice job of getting the team back into focus after relaxing for a few minutes. Canton/Galva is a dangerous team that can quickly get back in a game. It was good to have Allie (Stone) have another good shotting night from beyond the three-point line. She has a lot of confidence, and she’s not letting any missed shots effect that right now. Ryland (Hawkinson) and Julia (Allen) were both really strong on the boards as they both came up with some tough 50/50 balls that could have gone to the other side.”
ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES vs. CANTON/GALVA LADY EAGLES at the Bluebird Classic
SCORING: ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES 11-11-5-7=34; CANTON/GALVA LADY EAGLES 2-5-9-2=18.
TEAM STATS:
ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES: 2-FGs – 8/23; 3-PTs – 6/15; FTs – 0/3; AST – 13; REBs – 23; TO – 20; STLs – 12; BLKs – 3; FLs – 9.
CANTON/GALVA LADY EAGLES: 2-FGs – 7/20; 3-PTs – 1/10; FTs – 1/2; AST – n/a; REBs – 15; TO – 22; STLs – 12; BLKs – 1; FLs – 7.
ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS:
Scoring: Allie Stone – 15; Ryland Hawkinson – 12; Alexus Swenson – 5; Addison Swenson – 2.
3-Pointers Made: Stone – 5; Al. Swenson – 1.
Assists: Macy Reiff, Stone – 4; Ry. Hawkinson, Julia Allen – 2.
Rebounds: Ry. Hawkinson – 10; Allen – 5; Stone – 3; M. Reiff – 2.
Steals: Ry. Hawkinson – 3; Stone, M. Reiff, Allen – 2.
Blocked Shots: Ry. Hawkinson – 2; Allen – 1.
CANTON/GALVA LADY EAGLE INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS:
Scoring: Trinity Espinoza – 10; Mimi Craig – 4; Makinlee Hoppes – 2; Lili Espinoza – 2.
(The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)