By Staff
WAKEFIELD – Going north to Wakefield to shake any rust off of a 11 day break, the Elyria Christian girls proved they were ready to be back on the court as they used strong first and third quarters to rout Wakefield by 18 at 31-13.
Now 11-2 for the season, the Lady Eagles will be back home on Friday hosting Herington, which also be Elyria Christian’s homecoming.
“It was good to see our girls back on the court again after what seemed like a very long break,” explained Lady Eagle head coach Greg Fields. “Wakefield is always a tough place for us to play because of the long drive, but I felt we came out with a lot of energy on defense. Wakefield does a great job of pressuring the ball and making it difficult to score. We had not played against a man defense since the beginning of the season, so it was great to work on a lot of those different plays again. We talked about having a frustrating offensive game tonight, but if we can play solid defense consistently it takes a lot of pressure off the necessity to score on every possession.”
Elyria jumped all over Wakefield in the first quarter, taking an 11-1 lead before Wakefield’s offense woke up just a bit and chipped a point off the lead, giving the Lady Eagles a 17-8 advantage at the halftime break. The Lady Eagle defense literally shutout Wakefield in the third quarter while scoring 11 to take a commanding 28-8 lead into the final quarter of play.
Lady Eagle senior, Ryland Hawkinson, had another huge game as she led the team in scoring with 16, just missed a double-double with the team high eight rebounds and was working on a triple-triple as she recorded seven steals to go with three blocked shots.
Coach Fields concluded his post-game reflections by saying, “Ryland (Hawkinson) had a great all-around game. She was extremely active on defense and didn’t allow much in the paint. Alexus (Swenson) had a very efficient night shooting the ball well and not having any turnovers. Macy (Reiff) also had one of her best games by taking care of the ball and being very disruptive on defense.”
ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES at Wakefield
SCORING: LADY EAGLES > 11-6-11-3 = 31; Wakefield > 1-7-0-5 = 13.
TEAM STATS: LADY EAGLES > 2-FGs – 10/25; 3-PTs – 3/13; FTs – 2/2; AST – 7; REBs – 21; TO – 12; STLs – 14; BLKs – 5; FLs – 10. Wakefield > 2-FGs – 3/16; 3-PTs – 1/10; FTs – 4/6; AST – 0; REBs – 17; T0 – 18; STLs – 5; BLKs – 3; FLs – 3.
ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS: Scoring > Ryland Hawkinson – 16; Alexus Swenson – 6; Macy Reiff – 4; Grace Prescott – 3; Raegan Hawkinson – 2. 3-Pointers Made > Al. Swenson – 2; Prescott – 1. Assists > M. Reiff – 2; Prescott, Julia Allen, Lacey Reiff, Addison Swenson – 1. Rebounds > Ry. Hawkinson – 8; Ra. Hawkinson – 5; Allie Stone – 3; M. Reiff, Al. Swenson, Prescott, Allen, L. Reiff – 1. Steals > Ry. Hawkinson – 7; M. Reiff – 4; Al. Swenson, Allen, Stone – 1. Blocked Shots > Ry. Hawkinson – 3; Allen, L. Reiff – 1.
(The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)