Samantha Radecki St. Ignace Saints Post Road Victories

To Open 2010 Year

The St. Ignace Saints opened up the season on the road with a 69-47 non-conference win over the Charlevoix Rayders Wednesday, January 6, and upended the Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils 56-34 in a Straits Area Conference contest Friday, January 8.

Elmblad Scores 31

In Win Over Rayders

Nicole Elmblad scored 31 points that included 17 in the first two quarters and 14 in the second half to lift the Saints over the Rayders at Charlevoix.

"We needed to play after three weeks off," said Saints Coach Dorene Ingalls, referring to the holiday break. "We struggled at times, but played well against a good, competitive team."

Player Chelsea Swope joined her team on the floor for the first time this season, and Emily Hepker returned to play for the Saints after suffering an injury in the first game of the season.

Chelsea Swope St. Ignace "We need Chelsea and Emily that will make us a better team and hope to get Katy LaTour back for all the pieces of the puzzle for the remainder of the season and tournament team," added the coach.

St. Ignace breezed to a 20-8 lead after the first eight minutes before both teams scored 16 points in the second quarter for a 36-24 halftime score.

The Saints outscored the Rayders 18-6 in the third quarter to increase the advantage to 54-30 and Charlevoix completed the contest with a 17-15-scoring edge in the final eight minutes.

Saints statistics: Nicole Elmblad, 31 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, six steals; Grace Wheeler, 11 points, five steals, four assists, four rebounds; Kristen Olsen, nine points, five rebounds; Samantha Radecki, six points; Emily Hepker and Mallory LaLonde, four points; Sarah Cullip, two points; Mikaela and Chelsea Swope, one point.

Leah Wallis Rudyard Defense Intensity Lifts

Saints Over Blue Devils

The St. Ignace Saints used their traditionally strong defensive intensity to down the Blue Devils and improve their overall record to 7-1 and 3-0 in the Straits Area Conference (SAC).

In the battle of undefeated teams in the SAC, the Saints held the Blue Devils to a seasonlow 34 points that started with a 15-4 lead after the first eight minutes before both teams scored 12 points in the second quarter for a 27-16-halftime score.

St. Ignace held an 11-10 scoring edge in the third quarter for a 38-26 advantage and outscored Sault Ste. Marie 18-8 in the final eight minutes for a 22-point league win.

"The girls played tough defense except for a time in the third quarter," said Assistant Coach Doug Ingalls. "We are rebounding better with more than 40 boards."

Leah Jarvie Rudyard Saints statistics: Nicole Elmblad, 22 points, 16 rebounds, six steals, six assists; Grace Wheeler, nine points, six rebounds, four steals, three assists, three blocked shots; Kristen Olsen, eight points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals; Mallory LaLonde, five points, six rebounds; Emily Hepker, four points, three rebounds; Chelsea Swope and Samantha Radecki, four points, two rebounds.

"Nicole Elmblad and Grace Wheeler both played well, but it took a team effort on the defensive side to hold the Sault to 34 points," said Saints Coach Dorene Ingalls.

Blue Devils statistics available: Katie Fitzpatrick, 11 points; Nicole Beaumont, eight points.

Bulldogs Notch SAC

Win Over Chiefs

Elissa Hobbs Engadine The Rudyard Bulldogs girls basketball team improved to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the Straits Area Conference with a 49-36 home win over the Cheboygan Chiefs at the Harris Kahl Gymnasium Friday, January 8.

The Bulldogs, who are undefeated at home, took a 24- 22-halftime lead that included a 13- 12 margin after the first eight minutes and held an 11-10 scoring edge in the second quarter.

Rudyard outscored Cheboygan 13-4 in the third quarter to increase their lead to 37-26. They closed out the SAC win with a 12- 10 advantage in the final eight minutes.

Bulldogs statistics: Leah Wallis, 18 points; Leah Jarvie, 11 points, seven for seven at the free throw line; Emily Jeffreys, 11 points; Brittany Brown, four points; Abbie LaPointe, three points; Crystal Brownlee, two points.

Eagles Down Black Bears,

Katie Tominac DeTour Raiders in Key Road Games

The Engadine Eagles girls basketball squad started the new season on a positive note with a road victory over Big Bay de Noc Black Bears 45-41 in a non-league contest Tuesday, January 5, and a 49-29 Eastern Upper Peninsula Conference (EUPC) decision against the DeTour Raiders Friday, January 8.

Defense Key to Win

Over Black Bears

"I was pleased with our total defense," said Eagles Coach Dave McNeil. "We trapped well all over the floor and scored off their mistakes."

The Black Bears held an 8-6- scoring edge after the first eight minutes before the Eagles outscored Big Bay de Noc 15-8 in the second quarter for a 21-16-halftime advantage. Both teams scored 24 points in the second half.

"The girls are starting to buy into the type of program I expect, but we still need to shoot the ball better at the free throw line," added the Eagles coach.

Eagles statistics: Krista Metcalf, 16 points; Elisa Hobbs, 12 points, 12 rebounds; Morgan MacArthur, seven points, eight rebounds; Kayla Miller, six points, seven steals, three assists; Kacie Rutledge, three points; Jessie Davis, two points.

Three Eagles Score

In Double Figures

Three Engadine players scored in double figures for Coach Dave McNeil in the win over DeTour.

The EUPC contest was close in the first half after the Eagles led 9-7 after the first eight minutes before the Raiders held a 9-8 scoring edge in the second quarter for a 17-16 Engadine margin at halftime.

"We changed our full court defense in the third quarter from man to zone and that was the difference," said Coach McNeil. "We had good solid position on the offense and defense in the second half."

Engadine, 5-3 overall and 1-2 in the EUPC, outscored DeTour 13-3 in the third quarter to increase the lead to 30-19 and closed out the win with a 19-10 advantage in the final eight minutes.

Eagles statistics: Morgan MacArthur, 16 points; Krista Metcalf, 14 points, nine rebounds, eight steals; Elisa Hobbs, 10 points, five rebounds; Jessie Davis, four points; Kacie Rutledge, three points; Lynzee Bigelow, two points, five rebounds.

Raiders statistics: Kiah Barbeaux, eight points; Darci Wilson and Ashley Bosley, five points; Nicole Melcer, four points; Bailey Miller, three points; Jessie Kelleghan and Katie Tominac, two points.