C-S sophomore Addy Reeves (24) secures a rebound during district championship game action March 8 against Battle Creek St. Philip.
By Bruce Rolfe
After winning a district championship last year with many players returning this year, it should be no surprise the Climax-Scotts girls varsity basketball team was aiming for a district title repeat and a chance to advance deep into the postseason this season.
The Lady Panthers put together an impressive regular season (14-6) and appeared to be in a good frame of mind entering the March 7 district championship game against Battle Creek St. Philip after registering a 48-27 win over Calhoun Christian in the district semifinals.
C-S had also defeated Battle Creek St. Philip twice in the regular season (54-33 and 49-23).
But Battle Creek St. Philip put together a solid game plan and took advantage of a few key C-S deficiencies to post a 41-36 win over the Panthers to claim the district championship trophy.
C-S completes the season with a 15-7 record while St. Phil took a 10-13 record into the March 11 regional game against Gobles (46-33 winners over Martin in last Friday’s district championship game.
“This one stings. This one stings a little bit and it’s going to take a minute for them. It’s going to take a minute for them and as they should. We put them to the test, as a coaching staff, all year long. These girls work extremely hard for us. We couldn’t be prouder of our girls. A district title loss, that’s not who we are. They’re great kids. They work extremely hard and one loss doesn’t define us,” observed C-S coach Chip Paddock.
The Panthers struggled at the free throw line, making 7-of-26 attempts. C-S’ offensive opportunities were reduced by 22 turnovers.
“All the credit to St. Phil. They had a great game plan tonight. Their kids wanted it and played hard. They’ve got a great group of kids over there (St. Phil). They prepared well. A lot of respect for them and happy for them,” adds Paddock.
“The free throws. We were 7 for 26. But there were some things defensively. Sinking too deep in our gaps. Stuff like that. There were just some things defensively we just weren’t in sync tonight,” continued the Lady Panther coach.
C-S also struggled with fouls, with leading scorer Holly Talbert fouling out with 3:51 left in the game and Lillie Edwards also fouling out with 1:21 left in the game. Addy Reeves finished the game with four fouls.
The two teams were knotted at 11-11 after one quarter.
There were many trips down the floor St. Phil’s defense frustrated the Lady Panthers, who were 10-for-26 overall from the floor.
“They had a good defensive scheme. Good defensive plan. Down the stretch, we made some halftime adjustments but we just weren’t hitting anything. We didn’t finish when we needed to finish up,” said Paddock.
St. Phil led by a 23-19 count at halftime, however 2-for-8 free throw shooting and a 2-for-10 performance from the floor by C-S combined with Addie Dzwik’s eight point quarter helped the Tigers move out to a 35-25 lead after three quarters.
The Lady Panthers refused to quit, pulling to 38-34 with 3:02 left in the fourth quarter on a basket down low by Addy Reeves.
But C-S missed its next three floor attempts and Dzwik dropped in three-of-four free throws over the final 1:21 to help St. Phil hold on for the win.
Addy Reeves, who was 6-for-9 from the floor, led C-S in scoring with 16 points.
Climax-Scotts 11 8 6 11 - 36
B. C. St. Philip 11 12 12 6 - 41
Sophie Braithwaite 1, Jaise Lane 6, Holly Talbert 1, A.J. Edwards 2, Ashlynn Gilbert 4, Lillie Edwards 6, Addy Reeves 16
Free throws: C-S 7-26/Battle Creek St. Philip 12-26
3-point baskets: C-S 3 (Jaise Lane 2, Lillie Edwards 1)/B.C. St. Phil 1 (Addi Dzwik 1)
C-S Stat Leaders
Rebounds: 10, Lillie Edwards 4
Assists: Kendall Reitz 3
Strong defense helps Lady Panthers to 48-27 win over Calhoun Christian in district semifinal
The Climax-Scotts girls varsity basketball team advanced into the district championship game against Battle Creek St. Philip with a 48-27 win over Calhoun Christian March 6 at St. Phil in a district semifinal contest.
St. Philip (9-13) defeated Battle Creek Academy 57-47 in the other semifinal contest.
Both teams started the game sluggish. Calhoun Christian turned the ball over seven times and managed to make just 3-of-11 floor attempts, while C-S had five miscues and connected on 3-of-15 floor attempts.
A basket by Sarah Belote at the 2:34 mark of the opening quarter that gave Calhoun Christian a 7-5 lead, wound up being the Cougars’ last lead of the game as C-S responded with very strong defense and Calhoun Christian struggled with its shooting.
C-S held Calhoun Christian without a basket for 11:25 spanning the end of the first quarter, the entire second quarter and 10 seconds into the third quarter while marching out to a 28-9 lead at halftime.
C-S held the Cougars scoreless until Jayna Schwartz sank a pair of free throws with 1:07 left in the second quarter. By then C-S ran off 15 straight points for a 25-9 lead.
C-S stretched the lead to 40-19 after three quarters.
Jaise Lane scored all 12 of her points from the three-point stripe with four triples on 4-for-7 shooting to lead C-S in scoring and Holly Talbert added 11 points.
Annabelle Edwards had 13 rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Jayna Schwartz, who connected on a trio of three-point baskets, led Calhoun Christian with a game high 13 points.
Calhoun Christian 7 2 10 8 - 27
Climax-Scotts 8 20 12 8 - 48
Sophie Braithwaite 8, Jaise Lane 12, Holly Talbert 11, A.J. Edwards 5, Lillie Edwards 7, Addy Reeves 5
Free throws: C-S 4-8/Calhoun Christian 5-15
3-point baskets: C-S 6 (Jaise Lane 4, Sophie Braithwaite 1, Lillie Edwards 1/Calhoun Christian 4 (Jayna Schwartz 3, Sarah Belote 1)
C-S Stat Leaders
Rebounds: Annabelle Edwards 13, Addy Reeves 6, Holly Talbert 4
Lillie Edwards 4
Assists: Lillie Edwards 3, Annabelle Edwards 3
Steals: Lillie Edwards 4, Sophie Braithwaite 3
After winning a district championship last year with many players returning this year, it should be no surprise the Climax-Scotts girls varsity basketball team was aiming for a district title repeat and a chance to advance deep into the postseason this season.
The Lady Panthers put together an impressive regular season (14-6) and appeared to be in a good frame of mind entering the March 7 district championship game against Battle Creek St. Philip after registering a 48-27 win over Calhoun Christian in the district semifinals.
C-S had also defeated Battle Creek St. Philip twice in the regular season (54-33 and 49-23).
But Battle Creek St. Philip put together a solid game plan and took advantage of a few key C-S deficiencies to post a 41-36 win over the Panthers to claim the district championship trophy.
C-S completes the season with a 15-7 record while St. Phil took a 10-13 record into the March 11 regional game against Gobles (46-33 winners over Martin in last Friday’s district championship game.
“This one stings. This one stings a little bit and it’s going to take a minute for them. It’s going to take a minute for them and as they should. We put them to the test, as a coaching staff, all year long. These girls work extremely hard for us. We couldn’t be prouder of our girls. A district title loss, that’s not who we are. They’re great kids. They work extremely hard and one loss doesn’t define us,” observed C-S coach Chip Paddock.
The Panthers struggled at the free throw line, making 7-of-26 attempts. C-S’ offensive opportunities were reduced by 22 turnovers.
“All the credit to St. Phil. They had a great game plan tonight. Their kids wanted it and played hard. They’ve got a great group of kids over there (St. Phil). They prepared well. A lot of respect for them and happy for them,” adds Paddock.
“The free throws. We were 7 for 26. But there were some things defensively. Sinking too deep in our gaps. Stuff like that. There were just some things defensively we just weren’t in sync tonight,” continued the Lady Panther coach.
C-S also struggled with fouls, with leading scorer Holly Talbert fouling out with 3:51 left in the game and Lillie Edwards also fouling out with 1:21 left in the game. Addy Reeves finished the game with four fouls.
The two teams were knotted at 11-11 after one quarter.
There were many trips down the floor St. Phil’s defense frustrated the Lady Panthers, who were 10-for-26 overall from the floor.
“They had a good defensive scheme. Good defensive plan. Down the stretch, we made some halftime adjustments but we just weren’t hitting anything. We didn’t finish when we needed to finish up,” said Paddock.
St. Phil led by a 23-19 count at halftime, however 2-for-8 free throw shooting and a 2-for-10 performance from the floor by C-S combined with Addie Dzwik’s eight point quarter helped the Tigers move out to a 35-25 lead after three quarters.
The Lady Panthers refused to quit, pulling to 38-34 with 3:02 left in the fourth quarter on a basket down low by Addy Reeves.
But C-S missed its next three floor attempts and Dzwik dropped in three-of-four free throws over the final 1:21 to help St. Phil hold on for the win.
Addy Reeves, who was 6-for-9 from the floor, led C-S in scoring with 16 points.
Climax-Scotts 11 8 6 11 - 36
B. C. St. Philip 11 12 12 6 - 41
Sophie Braithwaite 1, Jaise Lane 6, Holly Talbert 1, A.J. Edwards 2, Ashlynn Gilbert 4, Lillie Edwards 6, Addy Reeves 16
Free throws: C-S 7-26/Battle Creek St. Philip 12-26
3-point baskets: C-S 3 (Jaise Lane 2, Lillie Edwards 1)/B.C. St. Phil 1 (Addi Dzwik 1)
C-S Stat Leaders
Rebounds: 10, Lillie Edwards 4
Assists: Kendall Reitz 3
Strong defense helps Lady Panthers to 48-27 win over Calhoun Christian in district semifinal
The Climax-Scotts girls varsity basketball team advanced into the district championship game against Battle Creek St. Philip with a 48-27 win over Calhoun Christian March 6 at St. Phil in a district semifinal contest.
St. Philip (9-13) defeated Battle Creek Academy 57-47 in the other semifinal contest.
Both teams started the game sluggish. Calhoun Christian turned the ball over seven times and managed to make just 3-of-11 floor attempts, while C-S had five miscues and connected on 3-of-15 floor attempts.
A basket by Sarah Belote at the 2:34 mark of the opening quarter that gave Calhoun Christian a 7-5 lead, wound up being the Cougars’ last lead of the game as C-S responded with very strong defense and Calhoun Christian struggled with its shooting.
C-S held Calhoun Christian without a basket for 11:25 spanning the end of the first quarter, the entire second quarter and 10 seconds into the third quarter while marching out to a 28-9 lead at halftime.
C-S held the Cougars scoreless until Jayna Schwartz sank a pair of free throws with 1:07 left in the second quarter. By then C-S ran off 15 straight points for a 25-9 lead.
C-S stretched the lead to 40-19 after three quarters.
Jaise Lane scored all 12 of her points from the three-point stripe with four triples on 4-for-7 shooting to lead C-S in scoring and Holly Talbert added 11 points.
Annabelle Edwards had 13 rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Jayna Schwartz, who connected on a trio of three-point baskets, led Calhoun Christian with a game high 13 points.
Calhoun Christian 7 2 10 8 - 27
Climax-Scotts 8 20 12 8 - 48
Sophie Braithwaite 8, Jaise Lane 12, Holly Talbert 11, A.J. Edwards 5, Lillie Edwards 7, Addy Reeves 5
Free throws: C-S 4-8/Calhoun Christian 5-15
3-point baskets: C-S 6 (Jaise Lane 4, Sophie Braithwaite 1, Lillie Edwards 1/Calhoun Christian 4 (Jayna Schwartz 3, Sarah Belote 1)
C-S Stat Leaders
Rebounds: Annabelle Edwards 13, Addy Reeves 6, Holly Talbert 4
Lillie Edwards 4
Assists: Lillie Edwards 3, Annabelle Edwards 3
Steals: Lillie Edwards 4, Sophie Braithwaite 3
