LIVONIA — Momentum.
Macomb Lutheran North fired out to an 8-2 lead against Wixom St. Catherine of Siena in the Catholic League Cardinal Division girls basketball final Feb. 21 at Madonna University’s Alliance Catholic Credit Union Arena.
Freshman Samantha VanSteenkiste converted three triples (she would wind up a perfect five for five), another freshman, Amanda Kress, scored a dozen of her game-high 16 points, and 6-foot-1 junior Leighton Garner controlled the boards (14 rebounds) to build a 35-28 lead three minutes into the third quarter.
Momentum.
In a complete about face, St. Catherine rallied for a 16-3 run for a 44-38 lead at the end of the third quarter and the eventual 57-52 victory, its second division championship in a row, fourth in the last six years.
Dave Skown (fourth year St. Catherine coach) couldn’t say enough about sophomore guard Ava Kuschka. “She hit two big threes for us,” he said.
The first one in the third quarter gave the Stars the lead for the first time in the game, 37-36. “It was a momentum change,” he said. “And then about four minutes left to play she hit that corner three. That was beautiful.” Kuschka had 11 points in the game, all in the second half.
“I think it was the defensive intensity,” Skown said. “We went into a little half-court trap and we got some touches and we got some easy baskets. The girls just seemed to feed off the energy of the press and it worked out real well.”
Lutheran North coach Andrea Avery-Tiedt shared that assessment. “What hurt us is they trapped us high. And that just took us out of our rhythm. And they started capitalizing on it, some transition buckets. It doesn't take long for momentum to change.”
Senior and team captain Ava Lassey led the Stars with 14 points, sophomore forward Brooklyn Mills 10, junior forward Kendall Hans 8, senior Stephanie Lisch and junior Lauren Smith, 7 apiece.
St. Catherine (13-6) will play Detroit Community in a Division 3 state playoff on March 4.
Lutheran North (8-10) will play Pontiac Notre Dame Prep in a Division 2 state playoff game March 4 at Warren Regina.
Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].
