Blazers Still Dancing

 The Lady Blazers found themselves in the same spot they found themselves the last 2 years, hosting a first-round MDCC playoff contest. While it has been a different opponent every year the result has held the same, a resounding Blazer victory. This time the team was the Grace Academy Knights. 

While it might have been a clear March afternoon outside, inside the gym umbrellas were needed as the Blazers were raining down 3s from all over the court. Mollee Stake and Amber Yanosik each hit a pair in the first quarter and from there the Blazers never looked back. The Blazers also played relentless man-to-man defense. At the end of the 1st quarter, the Blazers were up 13-4.

In the 2nd quarter the Blazers showed that they could win in multiple ways. They switched their defense to a stfiling 2-3 zone. While on the offensive end their focus turned from the perimeter to the paint, as they would dominate their. Junior big Sarah Vandersleen feasted on the block. She would score 6 points in the quarter. She had one for the highlight reel where she did a little shimmy to her left, and then was able to get back to her right hand and finish. Laurel Reitz also proved to be too much to handle as she scored in the paint as well. In the 2nd quarter alone the girls poured in 21 points. They entered the locker room up 34-15.

Coach Ward commented," I thought we came out very aggressive looking like a team motivated to make another final four. We really got going when we were able to force turnovers bunches, and that really opened up our offense. Mollee Stake was the spark plug early, until Laurel and Amber got going."

The Knights would not go away without a fight as they clawed themselves back into the game, outscoring the Blazers in the 3rd, 9-5. The Blazers went cold from the field as they were able to get good looks, but it was like there was a lid on the basket. " We came out a little slow after halftime but we adjusted and really shut the door from about the last 3 minutes of the 3rd to the middle of the 4th" remarked Ward.

The Blazers responded well to the adversity and put the game away in the 4th quarter scoring 16 points. Reitz, as many times before had a huge quarter scoring 7 of her points at the end. As Grace looked to press to get back in the game, Laurel was able to be a one person press break and beat the pressure basically on her own. The final score was 55-30.

Amber Yanosik lead the scoring with 18 points and Laurel with 17. Sarah Vandersleen had 8, Mollee Stake had 6, Brylee Moats had 3, Julia Waltz had 2 and Emmalyn Hott had 1.

Ward had some words when talking about making it back to the final four for the 3rd straight season, "Making a 3rd trip to the final four is a great accomplishment and its great for the growth of our program. Now its all about improving in the final four"

The Blazers will welcome familiar foe Shalom to their gym to compete for a spot in the championship. The teams split the season series 1-1 each winning at the other's gym. This is going to be a good one!