STANWOOD — It doesn’t matter how opponents try to stop the Stanwood girls basketball team. The Spartans can feed the post or hit jump shots. Give them enough time and they will find a way to score.
After a tight first half Thursday night, Stanwood figured out the Jackson defense in a 58-49 Wesco 4A victory.
The Spartans hit the final bucket of the first half to go up 28-26 at the break, but the Timberwolves opened the second half in a zone for the first time in the game.
Stanwood’s Samantha Kelleigh was the biggest beneficiary, hitting three 3-pointers in the third quarter and scoring 13 of her game-high 16 points in the first eight minutes of the second half.
“Everybody that plays can score for us and it depends on what teams do against us,” Stanwood coach Dennis Kloke said. “They forced us to shoot from the perimeter in the third quarter… We got really good looks against zone and the ball went in the basket.”
Stanwood switched to a matchup zone defense in the third quarter and held Jackson to just five points. The Timberwolves managed just 12 field goals on the night but kept the game from getting out of hand thanks to a 24-for-29 performance from the free-throw line. Sierra Anderson led the way with 15 points for Jackson.
In the fourth quarter Jackson switched to a full-court press to get back into the game, but ran out of time.
“We got a little lazy after building a 20-point lead,” Kloke said. “So, it’s a learning curve.”
At Stanwood H.S.
Jackson 13 13 5 18 — 49
Stanwood 13 15 20 10 — 58
Jackson—Hicks 0, Gjertsen 6, Coacher 0, Kingma 12, K. McArthur 3, M. McArthur 2, Johnson 0, Anderson 15, King 0, Stoffel 11. Stanwood—Titus 1, Lucero 7, Bingham 5, Murphy 5, Borseth 4, Kelleigh 16, Swartz 10, Heckman 10. 3-point goals— Kelleigh 3,Bingham 1, Lucero 1, K.McArthur 1. Records—Jackson 4-2 league, 8-4 overall. Stanwood 5-2, 9-3.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
