by ** The Girls Basketball District Championship Week is coming up at the end of the month. If you email me with the code “Super Tuesday or Championship Friday, I will give you 50% off your sponsorship rate for 2024**
Magnificat got a big second half performance from Julia Hall who scored all 16 of her points in the 46-25 victory over Stow tonight. I spoke with Julia Hall on how she was able to find success after a slow start to the game tonight, “We talk about it all the time how it is next play mentality, and keeping a good structure for our teammates is important. You just have to keep playing through it and grab the win. Our identity is defense and we work on it a lot during practice.”
Sofia Wilson caught fire in the second half as well with 8 points, including a stretch in the third quarter with back-to-back threes. This went a long with Gemma Wichman who finished with 11 points. I spoke with Blue Streak head coach Danny Gallagher on how important it is when they are playing to their potential, “It was good to see them playing well together, working off of one another and when we have our big’s playing the way they did, finishing around the basket, defending, we are a really tough team to beat. When they buy into the team concept, we are really hard to beat, and it was fun to see them playing off of one another really well.
Gemma Wichman is such a great athlete, she is big, fast, strong and a multisport athlete. She works really hard in practice to push herself and her teammates to get better. “
The Blue Streaks held the Bulldogs to just 2 points in the first, and just 4 in the third, head coach Danny Gallagher speaks about the defensive pressure his squad can bring, “Defense is our identity and our calling card. I credit Stows defense and have learned a lot from them and their style as well. What we work on in practice day in and day out, and have done a special job this year.”
Also scoring for the Blue Streaks was the talented Roggenburk sisters who combined for 11 points. Leading the Bulldogs in points was Adiana Tichnell with 9 points, all coming from beyond the arc. Also scoring for Stow was Maya Cooper with 2 while Rachel Frailey with 3. Anna Hurst, Allie Knauff, Aliana Ray and Kennady Dodds each had 2.
The first quarter was all defense on both ends as it ended with the Blue Streaks leading 6-2. A 5-0 run by the Bulldogs following a Tichnell 3 and Knauff layup made it 7-6 Stow quickly. The Blue Streaks didn’t see their first points until Wichmann hit two foul shouts with only 3:44 left in the first half. After a Tichnell 3 regained the Bulldogs the lead at 10-8, the Blue Streaks finished the half on a 7-2 run to take a 15-12 halftime lead.
The Blue Streaks came out of the locker room gunning in the third with a 7-0 run on the legs of a Brynn Roggenburk 3 and then 4 straight from Julia Hall. After a Dodds bucket stopped it, they got hot again as Wilson drained a couple of three to give the Blue Streaks their biggest lead of the game at 28-14. The Blue Streaks took a 32-16 advantage after three quarters.
Julia Hall found the mismatch down low in the fourth and couldn’t be stopped as she scored 10 of her game high 16 in the frame as the Blue Streaks cruised to the 46-25 victory.
