By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
METAMORA (December 7, 2023) – Evergreen looked almost like the swarm of locusts of Biblical proportion for the first 13 minutes against Swanton.
The Vikings surged and flocked around every Bulldog pass, forcing 13 turnovers and harried Swanton into missing 15 of their first 16 shots as they raced out to a 27-3 lead en route to a 44-19 triumph.
Evergreen evened their record at 2-2 while the Bulldogs fell to 2-1.
“Our kids really started off strong tonight,” Viking coach Brittaney Cymbolin said. “The energy was definitely there.”
“We need to come out with contagious energy, not one or two kids but all of them and I thought that was the huge factor in our start.”
The Vikings scored in triplicate early on as Addie Ricker and Kyla Risner canned back-to-back triples before many had settled into their seats.
Kennedy Emmitt went 3/3 after being fouled on a triple try and the zippy Risner turned a steal into a Brooke Sintobin layup to make it 11-0 halfway through the first.
“Kyla Risner is such a great spark for us,” Cymbolin exclaimed about her sophomore guard. “If you ever look at her, she is smiling 24/7.”
“She’ll do the dirty work for you and get on the floor, get in someone’s face defensively. She hit some big three’s tonight to get us going and give us that extra edge.”
Emma Crow finally put Swanton on the board with a shot from long range with 3:10 left, but that was the last time the Bulldogs would change the scoreboard for nine minutes.
Risner struck again from deep on an out of bounds play to push the lead to 14-3 at the quarter before Sintobin and Ricker led a burst that ended up being a 16-0 salvo.
Ricker found Bailey Lumbrezer all alone for a layup, then scored on an Emmitt feed and off her own steal.
The hard working Sintobin scored off a putback, and then on a third chance try after yet another Bulldog turnover, Brookelyn Gleckler hit a triple and Emmitt finished the burst with a steal and score to open up a 24-point chasm with 2:48 left in the half.
Miranda Yeager’s late three-ball cut the margin to 29-8 at the break, then her two free throws opening the second half got the Bulldogs under the 20 mark.
Ricker’s baseline jumper again got Evergreen north of 20 up for the rest of the third. Alexia Ostrander hit a pair from the line to start the fourth to get Swanton under the 20 point deficit mark one last time before Emmitt went 2/2 at the line and Ricker scored on a stick back.
“Ricker is definitely our workhorse,” explained Cymbolin of her big scoring threat inside. “She will do anything she can to give our team that extra edge.”
“She is just a boss down there underneath. She is definitely determined to get the ball, even off her own miss and put it in the basket. That one thing makes her different from a lot of kids.”
Silvie Abec’s basket with 35 ticks left gave Evergreen their biggest lead at 44-17. For the night Swanton shot was 6-44 from the field and were forced into 26 turnovers.
Evergreen committed 17 turnovers, many of those came in the fourth quarter. The Vikings shot 11-25 in the first half during their opening scoring rampage, then closed 17-43 for the night.
Ricker was the only player in double figures with 13.
SWANTON (19) – Crow 5; Shinaver 2; Finfera 0; Gowing 0; Nelson 0; Ostrander 2; Yeager 8; Manning 2; Keiser 0; LaGrange 0; Totals: 4-2-5 – 19
EVERGREEN (44) – Risner 6; Gleckler 3; Br. Sintobin 6; Hoffman 0; Vaculik 3; McVey 0; K. Emmitt 7; Lumbrezer 2; Burgermeister 2; Be. Sintobin 0; Manz 0; Ricker 13; Abec 2; Nash 0; Totals: 13-4-6 – 44
SWANTON 3 5 5 6 – 19
EVERGREEN 14 15 4 11 – 44