MU Ancilla and Lake Michigan came into Wednesday night's key MCCAA game with identical 2-2 conference records and seemed to be evenly matched teams. The game definitely lived up to that with the Chargers rallying late to win 58-56. It was Lake Michigan who stared out the game strong, leading 11-4 early before MU Ancilla closed the gap near the end of the 1st quarter. A late basket by the Red Hawks gave them a 13-11 lead after the 1st quarter.
The second quarter saw a very back and forth game develop before the Chargers jumped out to a 26-19 lead as halftime neared. Lake Michigan rallied back with solid interior play and free throw shooting to close on a 7-0 run which allowed them to take a 27-26 lead in to the half. Kalyah Watson scored 12 points in the first half and was almost unstoppable at times for the Red Hawks. Both teams struggled to find consistent shooting in the first half as the Chargers used tough man-to-man defense while Lake Michigan remained in an active 23 zone defense throughout the half.
The second half opened with Lake Michigan maintaining the momentum the gained late in the first half as they extended their lead out to 8 points at 37-29. The Chargers refused to go away, ultimately tying the game up at 40 late in the 3rd quarter. Once again, it was the Red Hawks who made a big play to end a quarter as they regained the lead, this time 43-40 after 3 quarters.
Lake Michigan maintained control of the lead throughout the 4th quarter and seemed poised to come out with a key road win. A Red Hawk basket at the 2:35 mark gave Lake Michigan and 54-49 lead. On the ensuing possession, the Chargers turned the ball over but Kyla Duncan made a key play in the game, hustling back and stealing the ball back then throwing it ahead to Nicole Swain who hit a driving layup to make the score 54-51 with just 2:20 left in the game. This basket started a 9-2 run that would close the game. The Red Hawks came out of a timeout at 2:20 and quickly scored to make the score 56-51 but that would be their last points of the game. Kyra Duncan quickly responded to get the score back to 3 points at 56-53.
After a key defensive stop, Samaria Freeman hit a mid-range jumper with 45 seconds left to cut the Red Hawk lead to 56-55. The Chargers forced a Red Hawk turnover out of a timeout to get the ball back with 35 seconds, setting the stage for Samaria Freeman again. This time, she collected an offensive rebound, hit a tough shot, and drew a foul. She stepped to the line and made the free throw to give the Chargers their first and only lead of the 2nd half at 58-56.
Lake Michigan was able to get 3 shots off in the last 20 seconds but none would fall and the Chargers escaped with a 58-56 win.
Coach Gould was very proud of his team for fighting through until the end. "I can't say enough about the girls and how hard they fought for this win. We showed a lof of growth as far as our emotional maturity today and we just stuck with it until the end. Lake Michigan is very impressive and very well-coached. Kalyah Watson and Ariel Ford are probably the best 1-2 duo we have seen this year so for us to be able to come out with a win means a great deal to us."
Gould was quick to praise Samaria Freeman and Kyra Duncan for their big plays late in the game. "I thought Kyra had one of the biggest plays of the day. She turned the ball over but instead of feeling sorry for herself, she sprinted back and got a key steal that led to Nicole Swain's layup. That kept us within 3 points when is very easily could have been 7 points. Kyra is a big-moment kind of player. She has a level of focus at the end of games when things get tough and she showed that again today. Samaria was fantastic today. She made huge plays offensively at the end to get us the win but her defense on both their guards but also their posts was key. She brought so much energy to the game in the 1st quarter when we were really struggling. We had big contributions up and down the lineup from Ellie, Audrey, and Derriauana holding Ford to 9 points, Alexis having 6 assists with only 2 turnovers, and Leah was only able to play in the 1st half but got in there and got us a key defensive stop when Nicole was in foul trouble. Nicole kept us in the game with her attacking the rim and holding her own on Watson and then Jayci having 14 rebounds."
With the win, the Chargers move to 15-6 and 3-2 in the MCCAA which leaves them all alone in 3rd place. They will return to action on Saturday at Kellogg CC with a 1:00 start.
