LocalSportsJournal.com
MUSKEGON — Although the Mason County Central girls basketball team didn’t shoot the best, but shot well enough and played good defense to defeat Oakridge on the road Thursday night in the West Michigan Conference 47-35.
It was a close game throughout, with the Spartans only able to gain a 10-9 edge at the end of the first quarter. But their defense really smothered Oakridge in the second period for an 8-2 advantage which gave them an 18-11 halftime lead.
The two teams battled to a 12-12 standoff in the third quarter, and the Spartans headed into the fourth with a 30-23 lead. The Spartans outscored the Eagles, 17-12 in the final period.
“Oakridge is a tough place to play,” Spartans head coach Mike Weinert said. “Oakridge has been playing really well lately. They’re one of the more improved teams around.
“We played good defense today. We came at them pretty hard. I think that was the difference in the game. We were locked into our game plan in how we needed to stop them defensively, and I thought we did a pretty good job with that.
“Oakridge is playing a lot better, and you can tell that they’ve been working hard just watching them on film. They’re a good defensive team. It’s tough to win down there, and I’m proud of the girls.”
Wren Nelson led the Spartan offense with 17 points and 6 rebounds. Adria Quigley scored six points and had six steals for the Spartans, while Grace Weinert added six points, three assists and six rebounds.
Oakridge was led in scoring by Anna Lundquist who had a team-high 11 points.
Mason County Central won its second straight game and raised its record to 8-5 overall and 5-4 in the conference. The Spartans are next scheduled to see action Tuesday, Feb. 8 at Shelby.
Oakridge fell to 3-11 overall and 2-7 in the conference. The Eagles next sees action on Tuesday, Feb. 8 when they host Ravenna.
