By Greg Gielczyk
GRAYLING — It’s been a tough season for the Grayling girls basketball team, that’s included a lengthy losing streak during which the Lady Vikings didn’t average 40 points a game.
But, times have changed and the Lady Vikings hope they have turned the corner and can look forward to more success down the road.
The Lady Vikings won their second game in a row Thursday night, scoring more than 40 points for the second straight game as well in a one-sided 44-28 thumping of visiting Kalkaska in the Lake Michigan Conference.
It lifted the Lady Vikings record to 5-10 overall, and raised their conference mark to 2-7.
Mackenzie Castle and Rylan Finstrom each scored 12 points to lead the Lady Vikings and Lauren Hartman contributed six points.
Almost every Lady Viking got into the scoring column.
“We had good ball movement, and good sharing of the ball,” Grayling head coach Daniel Brandt said. “We kind of built on our win from Tuesday.
“From the tip, the energy was there. We had 35 deflections. Just active hands, (and) great defensive movement. A lot of ball pressure forced them into tough situations, tough shots.
“Just offensively, we were able to move without the ball, make some good backdoor cuts, a lot of great feeds to our post and then finishing around the rim.”
Violet Porter was the Blue Blazers leading scorer, with nine points.
As Brandt said, the Lady Vikings exhibited the defensive energy from the start, outscoring the Lady Blazers, 9-3 in the first eight minutes.
The Lady Vikings shifted into a higher gear offensively in the second period, rolling to a 17-7 advantage and heading into the locker room at halftime with a comfortable 16-point cushion, 26-10 cushion.
Kalkaska scored closer to the Lady Vikings in the third period, but still was on the short end, 10-8 at the buzzer as Grayling went into the fourth quarter with a 36-18 lead. Kalkaska outscored the Lady Vikings, 11-8 in the final period.
Next on the schedule for the Lady Vikings is a home game against Traverse City St. Francis (10-4 overall, 8-2 LMC) on Tuesday, Feb. 8.
