LocalSportsJournal.com
FRANKFORT — Cold shooting at the beginning of the game resulted in a slow start by Manistee and opened the door for Frankfort in Wednesday night’s non-conference girls basketball game at Frankfort.
Capitalizing on every Manistee mistake, the Panthers stormed to a big halftime lead and earned a 60-40 win.
While the Mariners struggled to kick their offense into gear, the Panthers took off and built a 17-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
It was the same story in the second period as the Mariners were outscored 13-7, which left them trailing by a 16-point margin, 30-14 at the half.
“We’re disapointed in ourselves, because it’s something we have been working on,” Manistee coach Kenn Kott said. “We played them pretty even in the second half, and even made a run in the third to get within striking range, but couldn’t get over the hump. Hat’s off to point guard Alayna Edmondson, who sprained her ankle just two days ago. She played nearly the whole game and never complained once while anchoring the defense, and taking some strong shots to the hole.”
Despite stepping up their scoring in the second half, the Mariners could not push through. They fell four points short in the third, 19-15 and trailed 49-29 heading into the fourth. Each team scored 11 in the last period.
Libby McCarthy scored 13 points to lead the Mariners, Jayna Edmondson added seven and Alayna Edmondson and Jill Fett scored six each.
Kott saw some positive aspects despite the loss.
“We’re starting to get some production from other people,” the coach said, “and continue to need more, especially when Jayna and Libby struggle. Jayna and Libby played in foul trouble most of the game, but we will still need their point production. But these girls are resilient, and know we’re back at it in 48 hours.”
Manistee fell to 2-2 on the season and visits Shelby for a West Michigan Conference crossover matchup with the Tigers on Thursday night.
