(January 22nd, 2015) – STRYKER: There were times when it would have been easy for the youthful Lady Panthers to fade away against Hilltop, but the Stryker girls showed great maturity and never gave up.
The result was a 52-44 home win over the Lady Cadets.
In the first quarter, Stryker and Hilltop took turns leading the game. It was the Cadets who gained the upper hand, holding on to a 13-12 advantage at the conclusion of the period. The girls of West Unity added to their lead in the second period, outscoring the hometown Panthers 14-10. This put the girls of Stryker in a 5 point hole at the half, 27-22.
Hilltop looked as though they might put the game away right out of the locker room. Yet Stryker was able to come back, tying the contest at 36 by the end of the third period. With everything even heading into the fourth and final stanza, the Lady Panthers were poised to play their best basketball of the night. They scored twice as many points as Hilltop in the period, with a 16-8 margin for the victory.
Stryker limited their turnovers to 8 against a solid Cadet defense. Given the lack of previous experience held by most of the Panther girls going into this season, such a low number of errors is astounding. Not only that, but they helped force Hilltop into 15 turnovers of their own.
Haley Doehrmann gave Stryker the boost they needed to earn the win. The freshman put up 16 points against the Hilltop defense. Maddie Uribes and Brittany Brier each offered up 11 points to the Panther cause. Audra Rupp, a junior, scored 10 points for Stryker as well.
Hilltop looked to Ariana Brown for their scoring, and the sophomore delievered with 10 points. Both Destiny Denton and Allie Schmitt earned 9 points in the loss, with Denton also making 8 assists. Bailey Funkhouser had 8 points also.