By Staff

            HOPE – On Tuesday the Elyria Christian girls closed out their 2022 regular schedule on the road at Rural Vista where defense stifled the home team, giving the Lady Eagles a 16-point, 38-22 victory.

            With the win, the Lady Eagles go into the Christmas break with a record of 5-2. They now have 17 days off before returning to the competitive hardwood hosting Canton/Galva on Friday, January 6.

“We came away with a good win over one of the better teams in our league,” noted Lady Eagle head coach Greg Fields. “I thought we had another solid game of sharing the ball tonight and playing some good team defense.”

            While Elyria was outrebounded, their defense was the story of the game as they forced Rural Vista into making 25 turnovers of which 21 were steals by the Lady Eagles led by Allie Stone with seven, Julia Allen with four and both Ryland Hawkinson and Macy Reiff swiping three.

            Talking about the team, coach Fields continued his post-game reflections by saying, “We weren’t shooting particularly well from the perimeter, but we were patient in finding some holes in their zone defense. The only area of the game that we really struggled in was rebounding, and we knew that would be an area of concern as they had a lot of height over us. We wanted to limit their overall shots in order to not allow as many opportunities for them to get offensive rebounds. Our girls did a nice job of creating turnovers which resulted in only 25 shots attempted by Rural Vista.”

            When on offense, the Lady Eagles were generous as a team, recording 11 assists on a total of 15 shots from the field made. Allie Stone dished out four of those with Alexus Swenson and Julia Allen passing out a pair each.

            Ryland Hawkinson dominated the offensive attack for Elyria, leading the team with 19 points while also pulling down a team high six rebounds and accounting for all five team blocked shots. Stone was also a big help in the paint with five rebounds.

            Concluding his post-game thoughts, Fields added, “Ryland (Hawkinson) had an outstanding night with 19 points while she did extremely well on the defensive end as well. Allie (Stone) was also great on defense with seven steals and distributing the ball well tonight. We are looking forward to a little break over Christmas, but we will have to come back focused to take on Canton/Galva in a tough rematch.”

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES at Rural Vista

SCORING: LADY EAGLES > 7-16-8-7=38; Rural Vista > 7-7-4-4=22

TEAM STATS: LADY EAGLES > 2-FGs – 13/30, 3-PTs – 2/12, FTs – 6/13, AST – 11, REBs – 16, TO – 11, STLs – 21, BLKs – 5, FLs – 13; Rural Vista > 2-FGs – 7/16, 3-PTs – 0/9, FTs – 8/11, AST – N/A, REBs – 21, TO – 25, BLKs – 1, FLs – 12.

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLE INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS:

Scoring: Ryland Hawkinson – 19; Alexus Swenson – 6; Macy Reiff – 4; Allie Stone – 3; Raegan Hawkinson – 2; Addison Swenson – 2; Grace Prescott – 2.

3-Pointers Made: Al. Swenson – 2.

Assists: Stone – 4; Al. Swenson, Julia Allen – 2; Ry. Hawkinson, Reiff, Ad. Swenson – 1.

Rebounds: Ry. Hawkinson – 6; Stone – 5; Allen – 3; Al. Swenson, Reiff – 1.

Steals: Stone – 7; Allen – 4; Ry. Hawkinson, Reiff – 3; Al. Swenson – 2; Ra. Hawkinson, Ad. Swenson – 1.

Blocked Shots: Ry. Hawkinson – 5.

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