By Staff

            ELYRIA – Strong first and third quarters propelled the Elyria Christian girls to a 29-point, 47-18, home court win over Solomon on Friday.

            The win was the third in a row for the Lady Eagles as they raise their season record to 4-2 with one game to go before the Christmas break and that will be on Tuesday on the road at Rural Vista. Elyria returns to the competitive hardwood after the break on Friday, January 6 when they will host Canton/Galva.

            Elyria held a five-point, 13-8 lead at the end of the first quarter before taking a seven-point, 21-14 lead into the halftime break. Coming out of the break, the Lady Eagles outscored the Lady Gorillas 20-4 in third quarter to hold a 41-18 advantage heading into the final quarter where they held Solomon to zero points while earning the final 29-point victory.

            “It took us some time to find the energy level that is required to compete at the varsity level tonight,” explained Lady Eagle head coach Greg Fields. “I was disappointed with the overall effort we showed in the first half, especially on the boards. I think we were out rebounded in the first half. Our girls did a nice job responding to our halftime challenge and picked up their intensity significantly in the second half. I was happy with the way we shared the ball as we had several girls with quite a few assists each.”

            The Lady Eagles dished out 15 assists on 20 made field goals for the game while defensively, they forced Solomon into making 27 turnovers which included Elyria making 23 steals and blocking six shots.

            Ryland Hawkinson had a strong game as she led the team in scoring with 14, rebounds with eight and blocked shots with three. Allie Stone reached double digits in the scorebook with 10 points while Macy Reiff and Julia Allen directed the offense and dished out five assists each. Allen also had the quick hands on defense by making a team high seven steals with Ryland Hawkinson and Macy Reiff also swiping four each.

            Coach Fields finished up his post-game reflections by saying, “Julia (Allen) was extremely active tonight and Macy Reiff had one of the best games of her career. I had challenged her yesterday to value the ball a little more, and she responded tonight with zero turnovers. Allie (Stone), Ryland (Hawkinson) and Alexus (Swenson) were all key contributors offensively again tonight, and they each distributed the ball well and helped us eventually winning the rebounding battle. This was total team effort, and it was good to see the girls all work unselfishly.”

            In the junior varsity Lady Eagle game, Elyria scored a whopping 42-2 win.

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES hosting Solomon

SCORING: Solomon 8-6-4-0=18; LADY EAGLES 13-8-20-6=47.

TEAM STATS: Solomon > 2-FGs – 7/27, 3-PTs – 0/5, FTs – 4/8, AST – N/A, REBs – 21, TO – 27, STLs – 4, BLKs – N/A, FLs – 11.  LADY EAGLES > 2-FTs – 16/32, 3-PTs – 4/14, FTs – 3/9, AST – 15, REBs – 22, TO – 12, STLs – 23, BLKs – 6, FLs – 12.

ELYRIA LADY EAGLE INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS:

Scoring: Ryland Hawkinson – 14; Allie Stone – 10; Macy Reiff – 8; Alexus Swenson – 8; Julia Allen – 4; Addsion Swenson – 3; Grace Prescott – 2.

3-Pointers Made: Al. Swenson – 2; Stone, Ad. Swenson – 1.

 Assists: M. Reiff, Allen – 5; Prescott – 2.

Rebounds: Ry. Hawkinson – 8; Stone, Reiff, Allen – 3; Al. Swenson – 2.

Steals: Allen – 7; eiff, Ry. Hawkinson – 4; Stone, Al. Swenson, Ad. Swenson – 2.

Blocked Shots: Ry. Hawkinson – 3.

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