Saints Down Manistique and Rudyard
By David Latva

The Saints' Nicole Elmblad (4) drives to the basket in the first half against the Bulldogs' Erin Jarvie (11).

Freshman Nicole Elmblad scored a career high of 24 points to lead St. Ignace girls to a 56-51 non-conference win over the Manistique Emeralds Wednesday, January 2, and the Saints improved to 8-1 overall on the season and 4- 0 in the Straits Area Conference (SAC) after a 47-27 league decision against the Rudyard Bulldogs Friday, January 4.

The two road victories after the holiday break were made against potential Class C district opponents. The competition will be held in Manistique from Monday, February 18, to Saturday, February 23. The remaining two teams in the districts are the Newberry Indians and the Inland Lakes Bulldogs.

Saints Edge Emeralds

The Saints and Emeralds scored seven points each in the first eight minutes before St. Ignace outscored Manistique 19-11 in the second quarter, for a 26-18 halftime lead.

The Emeralds sliced the Saints' final margin to five points with a 33-30 second-half scoring edge.

Erin Jeffreys (4) of Rudyard scores this second half field goal againts the Saints Friday, January 4.

Saints statistics: Nicole Elmblad, 24 points, eight rebounds; Marcie Rickley, 12 points; Amanda Coveyou, eight points; Mallory LaLonde, six points; Jodi Langstaff, three points; Jessica Massaway, two points, four steals; Chelsea Swope, one point, five assists.

Saints Record SAC Win

St. Ignace outscored Rudyard 2-3 in the SAC and 3-7 overall in each quarter. The score was 11-5 after the first eight minutes and 10- 4 in the second quarter, for a 21-9 halftime lead.

The Saints held a 13-11 scoring edge in the third quarter for a 34- 20 advantage going into the fourth quarter. The team closed out the game with a 13-7 margin.

Saints statistics: Amanda Coveyou, 11 points; Marcie Rickley, 10 points; Nicole Elmblad, eight points; Jodi Langstaff, seven points; Samantha Radecki, four points; Chelsea Swope, three points; Grace Wheeler, Kayala Gustin, two points.

Bulldogs statistics: Emily Jeffreys, 10 points; Erin Jarvie, six points; Betsy Wileman, five points; Shakieva Fikes, Destiny Chontos, Lindsie LaPointe, two points.