Lady Warriors Win Key Conference Matchup With 2nd Half Rally

JTV Sports File Photo.

By David Rice
JTV Sports

(January 26, 2023 10:50 PM) What started out as rough, for most of the first half, ended in a rally win for the Lady Warriors on Thursday night.

Grass Lake struggled to open the game, missing 3 shots in the first 3 minutes plus 5 turnovers in the opening 5 minutes. A 3-pointer from Lauren Lutchka with 1:40 left in the 1st quarter was the only field goal for GL in Q1. Napoleon started with sloppy passing, but still held GL to just 5 points in the opening quarter. 9-5 after 1.

Kicking off the second quarter, the Lady Warriors scored 4 quick points off steals. Then, they continued their struggles after, with 10 team fouls in the first half.

Domination by the Pirates on the inside and in the paint allowed them to still hold the lead, despite GL pushing the momentum heading into the locker room by an even 2nd quarter of 10-10. Napoleon still leads 19-14 at halftime.

“The first half was rough, we didn’t come out with the energy on defense that we normally have. We got discouraged when the buckets weren’t falling” said Grass Lake HC April Salts. 

The Lady Warriors turned it around in the second half and came out fired up.

Napoleon kept pushing away though, scoring a quick 5 points in the first 1:30 of that 3rd quarter. After that, it was (mostly) all Warriors. Freshman Mya Viegelahn scored 6 points in the 3rd quarter to help Grass Lake turn the tide. 

Napoleon started to struggle and the home crowd behind them lost the energy, turning the ball over and struggling to get the rebounds. A 3-pointer from Olivia Turner with 40 seconds left tied the game, followed by a steal and layup from Kate Starkey to take GL’s first lead. GL leads 26-24 after 3.

Grass Lake ended up running away with it in the 4th quarter, taking advantage of 4 Napoleon turnovers plus missed open shots. A 12-5 run by the Lady Warriors in the first 4 minutes of the 4th helped them lead by double digits headed into the final minutes. Steals and layups plus 4 late points from Ereka Risner helped GL pull away with a victory.

Grass Lake got the win at Napoleon (in a key conference matchup) 42-31.

Kate Starkey led GL with 12 points and Mya Viegelahn added 10. Karson Fairbanks led Napoleon with 9 and Momo Hampton added 8 points. 

“We came out with the energy in the second half that we’ve had all season. Mya really came through for us in that third quarter, her defense transitioned into exceptional offense”, said Salts. “Defense will be the key for us heading into February, come out with that same energy and we have to pick up some nice conference wins.” 

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