GRAYLING — Grayling played a strong first half and then hed off the Elk Rapids Elks to pull out a 48-40 victory in Lake Michigan Conference girls basketball action Jan. 20 to snap a three-game losing streak as the Vikings improved their record to 3-7 overall and 2-8 in the conference.
Mallory Hatfield finished with a team-leading 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals while Jackie Denton contributed 10 points and four rebounds.
“Our first half was quite possibly our finest half of the year,” coach Sparky Nitchman said. “The girls hustled, created turnovers and played as a team. Definitely a half that we hope to build on moving forward.
“All of our girls got minutes and I felt that each player gave maximum effort every time they were on the floor. The result didn’t go our way in the end but lots of positive aspects about this game and areas we can build on.”
Denton made her return to the team after an injury and did a great job leading the press and attacking the basket. The Vikings are looking for her continued improvement.
Harbor Springs 40
Grayling 31
Although the end result wasn’t what the Grayling girls basketball team would have liked as the Vikings lost to Harbor Springs, 40-31 on Jan. 17 coach Sparky Nitchman felt the team continued to show improvement.
Mallory Hatfield leading the team in scoring with eight points and on the boards with seven rebounds. Natalie Amy contributed seven points and five steals.
“I was pleased with the way that our girls competed,” Nitchman said. “They came out and gave 100 percent effort, really worked hard on our full-court pressure and forced Harbor Springs to turn the ball over.
“Credit to Harbor Springs for keeping the game out of reach. A few times in the second half we would go on a run, bring it to within four and then Harbor would respond with a run of its own. Mallory Hatfield palyed a great all-around game, doing a great job on the back end of our press.”
