By Heather Jensby
The Lady Mustangs took on the Pleasanton Bulldogs on the road and took home a win with a final score of 51-33. Three Mustangs earned double-digit figures, with sophomore Libby Soucek putting up 17 points, and seniors Sophie Schmidt and MaKenna Karr following with 16 and 15. Right from the start, Silver Lake looked confident and played with a lot of energy. Their defense was especially intense as they forced turnovers and made Pleasanton take tough shots. After getting stops on defense, the Lady Mustangs were able to score in transition, which helped them get ahead early. Their scoring began with Karr and Soucek driving to the rim and getting put on the line. They each knocked down their pair of free throws to get the night started. After that, Soucek hit a pair of threes, which put the Mustangs up 10-0. After a timeout, Pleasanton was able to calm down, putting the score at 13-7 to end the first.
On offense, Silver Lake moved the ball well and didn’t rely on just one player to score. However, a few lapses on defense and a few turnovers allowed Pleasanton to tie the game back up at 18. However, the Mustangs made a few adjustments, which sent them on a 13-0 run, which culminated in a buzzer-beater from MaKenna Karr to put them up by 13 at halftime, and they didn’t let up in the second half.
To start the second half, Silver Lake secured five offensive rebounds on the first possession, which ended in a three-pointer for Soucek. Pleasanton kept trying to fight back, but they couldn’t really keep up with Silver Lake’s defense or scoring. Even though the Bulldogs showed effort, they struggled to score consistently and couldn’t close the gap. The Mustangs went into the fourth quarter with a 42-23 lead.
They continued to extend their lead, and when the game ended, the Lady Mustangs came out on top 51-33, which shows how well they played as a team. It was a strong win for Silver Lake and shows that they have the talent and teamwork to compete in tough games. Coach Kate Sinsel said, “I thought our team did a great job of controlling the pace of the game from tip-off. I was extremely proud of how we took quality shots when we set up in half-court sets. We worked the ball and waited for good looks. Moreover, we followed the scouting report defensively, which helped to convert into offensive looks. One improvement that we can work on is rebounding for four full quarters. When we have the rebounding mentality, it is difficult to stop. However, we sometimes lose focus and allow too many second-chance points.” In the second half, the Mustangs came out on top of the rebounding battle, led by Karr, who ended the night with 12 rebounds, 8 from the offensive end.
When asked how she felt the girls played throughout the whole game, Coach Bonifas replied, “I felt like our team showed up ready to play against Pleasanton. Sometimes that first game back after Christmas break can start a little slow, but we jumped right into the game at full speed on both defense and offense. That early momentum helped us gain an early lead.” That early momentum was led by Schmidt, who had seven steals for the night.
Coach also felt that the one thing they practiced during practice that they put to use during the game was the fact that they had practiced some strategies to take their defense out of rhythm and interrupt some of their offensive plays, and Coach Bonifas said that she felt “our girls did a great job recognizing those situations and playing defense against them.”
Even though Pleasanton had quite a few offensive rebounds in the first half, the Lady Mustangs did a good job of recognizing that after the team had talked about ways to fix that at halftime. The team came in the second half and did a much better job of eliminating their second or third chance opportunities on offense.
Coach Bonifas says that she “loves the mentality of this team right now and that they come into every practice and game with a positive attitude.” She also thinks that mindset is allowing them to play at a high level for four full quarters, which is exactly what they did during Pleasanton. “Sometimes when a team has a lead at halftime, it’s easy to get complacent, but our girls didn’t do that at all. They came out in the second half with intensity and never let up.”
When asked what she would like to see more of as a Coach, Mrs. Sinsel said that she would love to see the team start every game with the same level of intensity that they brought against Pleasanton and then sustain that intensity throughout the entire game.