By: Samantha Bonifas
The Lady Mustangs entered the TVC tournament with a 6 game winning streak and a second seed. To start tourney action, the Mustangs took on the Deshler Dragons at The Barn. “Since we beat Deshler in the early season, we knew they wanted to beat us. We were prepared and ready and we took it into the game and followed through with it,” commented Georgi tenBensel about her team’s mindset before the game. The first quarter started slowly with the Mustangs taking a 6-9 lead. At the half, the game was tied 13-13. The Mustangs took action in the third quarter. With more open shots and better looks, Silver Lake was able to put 17 more points on the board and take a 7 point lead after a strong third quarter. The Lady Mustangs finished the physical game with a score of 41-34 and a victory that advanced the team to the semifinals. The team was an impressive 12 for 14 at the free throw line. Kerigan Karr, Amanda Ehrman, and Georgi tenBensel each put 10 points on the board and Katelyn Karr added 9.
On Friday, the team traveled to Shelton where they had a chance for redemption against Blue Hill after a tough regular-season loss early in the season. The first quarter started with the Bobcats taking a 10-6 lead. Silver Lake worked their way through a tough second quarter but were still behind 22-14 at the half. The Mustang defense was unable to stop the Bobcats and Brooklyn Kohmetscher in the third quarter as the Bobcats took a 17 point lead. Silver Lake attempted a comeback for the fourth quarter, but shots did not fall, and the Mustangs headed to the consolation game the next day. “We did not come out as strong as we could have. It was not our best game. We got nervous and we did not play the way we usually do. Rebounding hurt us the most, ” said Katelyn Karr about the tough loss. Kerigan Karr led the team with 12 points and Katelyn Karr added 8. Georgi tenBensel pulled 10 rebounds.
The Lady Mustangs took on the Franklin Flyers on Saturday for an attempt at third place. The first quarter started slow and Franklin took a 3-1 lead. The Mustangs could not quite pick up the pace to the pace they wanted in the second quarter and fell behind 13-6. At halftime, Silver lake regrouped themselves and brought an intensity to the third quarter that put several points on the board from steals. “Coach Crowe encouraged us to not let up at halftime. We knew we had to play more intensely. Our press became a really valuable part of the game so that we could speed them up and get more possessions of the ball.” Down 20-17, the Lady Mustangs kept their fire burning until the very end of the fourth quarter. With 49 seconds left to go, the score was tied at 27-27. The Mustangs fouled and sent Abigail Yelken to the line where she made a free throw and put the Flyers up by one. With just seconds left to go, the Mustangs were not able to find an offensive opportunity and lost 29-27. Katelyn Karr led the Mustangs with 14 points.
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