By Staff

            CANTON – The Canton/Galva girls basketball team closed out the December part of their schedule with a home court win over Wakefield, 54-38.

            With the victory the Lady Eagles evened their season mark to 4-4 and gave them a two-game win streak heading into the holiday break. Canton/Galva will return to the competitive hardwood on Friday, January 6 when they travel cross-county to play Elyria Christian.

            The Lady Eagles jumped out to a 10-point, 13-3 lead by the end of the first quarter and extended the lead to 20 at 33-13 heading into the halftime break. While Wakefield did whittle a few points off their deficit, Canton/Galva held on for the final 16-point victory.

            “All in all, our defense was good tonight and we showed great effort,” pointed out Lady Eagle head coach Brad Willems. “For the most part, our rotation was good and while we still catch ourselves watching sometimes, we are getting better every game. Offensively we took another step forward tonight, we are seeing things better every game and it really helps when shots go in.”

            The freshman combo of Trinity Espinoza and Adi Alcala led the Lady Eagles in scoring with 25 and 13 points respectively as they combined for seven made three-pointers, Espinoza had four and Alcala hit for three. Senior Mimi Craig also reached double figures with 11.

            Lili Espinoza did much of the work in the paint, leading the Lady Eagles in rebounding with seven while both Mimi Craig and Trinity Espinoza each grabbed four and seniors Sage Toews and Brecken Pearson hauled in three each as well.

            Coach Willems finished his post-game reflections by adding, “I am very proud of the ladies as they come and work hard every day to get better and that is all we can ask for! This was a nice win to take us into the break, hopefully it makes us want to get back to it and keep moving forward.”

Wakefield at CANTON/GALVA LADY EAGLES

SCORING: Wakefield > 3-10-14-11=38; LADY EAGLES > 13-20-12-9=54.

CANTON/GALVA LADY EAGLE TEAM STATS: 2-FGs – 13/32; 3-PTs – 7/24; FTs – 7/10; AST – 10; REBs – 25; TO – 16; STLs – 10; BLKs – 1.

CANTON/GALVA LADY EAGLE INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS:

Scoring > Trinity Espinoza – 25; Adi Alcala – 13; Mimi Craig – 11; Lili Espinoza – 4; Makinlee Hoppes – 1.

3-Pointers Made > T. Espinoza – 4; Alcala – 3.

Assists > Sage Toews – 4; Brecken Pearson – 3; T. Espinoza – 2; L. Espinoza – 1.

Rebounds > L. Espinoza – 7; T. Espinoza, Craig – 4; Toews, Pearson – 3; Emerson Hoppes – 2; Alcala, M. Hoppes – 1.

Steals > L. Espinoza – 3; E. Hoppes, Toews – 2; T. Espinoza, Alcala, Pearson – 1.

Blocked Shots > Craig – 1.

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