MCS girls fall to Avon

Avon coach Brad Poppe challenged his point guard Chesney Nagel to protect the ball against a vaunted Mitchell Christian press defense.

Nagel did that and more Tuesday night as she scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to lift the Pirates to a 52-44 victory over Mitchell Christian in Mitchell.

Nagel finished with a game-high 22 points, two assists and Avon only committed seven turnovers.

“I was aggressive to the hole and I made my free throws, which helped a lot so it was just an all-around game that went really well,” Nagel said. “My coach told me I need to have the ball in my hands and protect the ball, so I accepted that challenge and tried to help my team get the ball across the court.”

The Pirates’ offense was temporarily stymied by the Mitchell Christian press in the first quarter but with the help of Nagel and Shay Mednansky, the Avon offense was able to get back on track.

“We just weren’t coming up far enough early on, but once we reminded the girls that we needed to break up a little bit further, we were able to get the ball up and then attack the weak side,” Poppe said. “We were really pleased with our offense in the second half. We got in a nice rhythm and knocked down some shots, and the girls looked to get more aggressive on offense.”

The Pirates made 18 of 21 free throws en route to claiming their fifth victory of the season.

“The girls did a nice job making some adjustments throughout the course of the game, and that’s what helped us get a ‘W’ against a good Mitchell Christian team,” Poppe said.

This is the third straight loss and the first lost at home for Mitchell Christian, which started the season on a seven-game win streak. The previous two losses came to Dakota Christian and Corsica/Stickney on the road.

“We knew the season was going to get tougher, and it’s going to continue to do that. We just have to keep getting better every game, and we will see that ‘W’ again,” Mitchell Christian coach Jackie Van Laecken said.

The Eagles showed resiliency after battling back from a nine-point deficit early in the third quarter to take a 35-34 lead into the fourth quarter after Emily Reynen hit a buzz beater at the end of the third. Reynen scored a team-high 17 points to lead Mitchell Christian and Becca Glanzer was the only other Eagle to reach double-figures with 11.

Avon 52,

Mitchell Christian 44

MCS (7-3)

Alexa Van Laecken 2 1-2 5, Becca Glanzer 2 7-10 11, Khiree Held 2 2-4 6, Emily Reynen 8 1-2 17, Brittany Zoss 2 0-0 4, Lindsay Thompson 0 0-0 0, Abbie Reynen 0 0-0 0, Ashley Glanzer 0 1-2 1, Kelsey Thompson 0 0-0 0, Taylor Krall 0 0-0 0, Destiny Reinniste 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 12-20 44.

Avon (5-4)

Chesney Nagel 2 15-16 22, Shay Mednansky 1 0-0 8, Alyson Roth 0 2-2 2, Ariana Oorlog 4 0-2 11, Emily Mudder 2 0-0 4, Heidi Cap 1 0-0 2, Amanda Reiff 1 1-2 3. Totals 11 18-21 52.

MCS 13 17 35 44

A 11 19 34 52

Tags: mitchell christian, sports, updates, basketball