Local Sports Journal
Oakridge knew it would have its hands full with a talented Muskegon Catholic Central team at the Muskegon Heights Holiday Tournament on Saturday. The Eagles were ready for the challenge and walked away with a 55-39 win over MCC.
Morgan Giddings continued to show why she’s a top point guard in the state as she finished with 18 points and 6 assists. Giddings handled constant pressure from MCC especially in a key third quarter.
“MCC pressed us in the third and Morgan was able to break it and find easy baskets for us,” said Oakridge coach Terry DeJonge. “At one point she was triple teamed and withstood the heated pressure and found the open girl.”
Freshman Hannah Reinhold gave solid minutes for Oakridge which built a 27-20 halftime lead and followed up with a 17-5 run in the third quarter. Reinhold scored nine points in the second quarter and drained a pair of 3-pointers in the third to finish with 15 points.
“We definitely learned from a few of our early games this season against Muskegon, Reeths-Puffer and OV that we need to stay in front of our girl a little better and help on defense a little more,” said DeJonge. “Potentially they have two all state players in Thompson and Neil. Those girls are good and we were hoping to hold them to 10 and 10.”
The Eagles defense did step up and held Momo Neil to 14 points while Tootie Thompson finished with 10 points.
Free throws were key for Oakridge down the stretch and Giddings stepped up making 5 of 6 to keep MCC away from any runs.
“They were never out of it because they are that explosive,” said DeJonge. “Once we had that lead we just had to take care of the ball, get some scoring and make it difficult for them to make a comeback.”
