by The Magnificat Blue Streaks (13-8) took on the Solon Comets (10-11) at home in their penultimate game of the regular season and took home a victory with a final score of 58-38. This one was a tale of two halves. The teams were going back and forth for the majority of the first half. The Blue Streaks were slightly better in the first half but only held a 5 point lead heading into the locker room. In the second half however, Magnificat took over. In the second half Magnificat out scored Solon 31-16 and most of Solons points came in the back half of the fourth quarter. Magnificat put their defense into 2nd gear for the second half and were great at turning that defense into offense.
The Blue streaks got off to a good start with an 8-0 run thanks to back to back 3s from junior Elle Lakios. Their physical play on defense led to early turnovers and fast breaks points on the other end. But the Comets did a great job to stick with it and not let the game get away early. They fought back with strong driving offense and good defense in the paint on the other side. The Blue Streaks also cooled down shooting, which helped the Comet comeback. The first quarter ended with a 15-10 score in favor of Magnificat.
Magnificat’s physical play continued into the second quarter, but so did the struggle of getting shots to fall. Solon capitalized on the misses as Atayla Steiner-Phillips scored 5 quick points to knot the game up at 15. The back and forth play continued as both teams played fast and physical basketball. Late in the quarter, the Blue Streaks warmed back up from the field as Elle Lakios knocked down another 3 right before the half. They kept the lead 5 heading into the locker room with a score of 27-22.
Magnificat’s first half was highlighted by good scoring from Lakios and physical play on both ends. Senior forward Gemma Wichmann was fighting in the paint all half, coming up with crucial rebounds and points inside. On the other end Solon was led by the 3 point shooting from Atayla Steiner-Phillips and strong defense and inside scoring from senior guard Marissa Blackford.
The Blue Streaks came out in the third much like they did in the first. Aggressive and strong on both sides of the ball. Gemma Wichmann really came into her own in the third quarter. On defense it felt like she was involved on every play. Whether it was defending in the paint forcing low percentage shots or getting into the passing lanes, Wichmann was forcing comets mistakes left and right. And on the other end, the offense ran through her. She ran a point forward and was always either making the right pass or driving right down the lane creating easy opportunities for her and her teammates. She scored 9 points in the third quarter, but more impressively led the Blue Streaks on defense allowing only 2 Comets points on 0 field goals. The quarter ended with a commanding 38-24 Blue Streak lead.
Everything present in the third quarter bled right into the fourth. Solon continued to struggle on offense, while Magnificat turned Comet mistakes into Blue Streak points. Freshman Eva Rivera put together a nice fourth quarter for Magnificat. She played tough on both ends and finished the game with 12 points off the bench. As the quarter went on the Comets put together some good possessions but it was far too little too late. The Blue Streaks took home victory with a final score of 58-38.
