(February 19th, 2015): NORTH CENTRAL – Two BBC teams were on the hunt for a win to conclude the regular season on Friday night; the Eagles of North Central were pitted against a forceful offense of the visiting Stryker Panthers. While a close-scoring first half would instill hope for the Eagles, a stunning second half by the Panthers would secure the victory.
The first quarter was all about the underclassmen; North Central’s Alysaa Swank and Makayla Hayes drained two three-pointers, with teammate Rachel Oxender also adding two points. Stryker’s Taylor Haines and Haley Doehrmann totalled 11 points between the two of them alone. At the end of the first half, Stryker led by just one at 19-18.
After the break, the Panthers decided that a one point lead wouldn’t suffice. Scoring 17 points in the third quarter, Stryker commandeered a sizeable lead at 36-28. Before the Eagles could retaliate, the lady Panthers sealed the victory in the fourth, adding another 16 points to result in a 52-34 win.
Stryker’s compelling second half was largely due to the conquest of Freshman Haley Doehrmann; Doehrmann scored 12 points in the second half, tallying 20 for the night overall. Teammates Audra Rupp and Taylor Haines additionally contributed 12 and 8 points, respectively. North Central’s Makayla Hayes registered 15 points for the evening, with Rachel Oxender also contributing 11.
The resulting loss at home finalized the Eagle’s record to 7-15 for the year; the lady Panthers added one more win to lift their record to 12-10 in the conclusion of their season.