The Ypsilanti Arbor Prep Girls tipped off against a very tough Grass Lake team in the District 87 championship and played a very solid defense as is their style and were able to come away with a big hard fought 43-34 victory and their 11th consecutive District championship.
In a packed gym at Arbor Green Hills, 90% of the crowd was wearing the blue and yellow of Grass Lake but that did not deter the Gators who are used to playing under pressure in front of opponents fanbases. Both teams came out strong but after a deep three-point shot by JUnior Guard Eliza Bush Grass Lake called timeout to regroup. But it didn’t work as Senior Taylor Wallace drained 3 three-point shots to give the Gators a big lead after the first quarter.
The Gators continued strong defensively taking a 23-14 halftime lead and only giving up 7 points a a quarter to Grass Lake. The Warriors came out after their halftime adjustments and drew with 6 points at the start of the fourth quarter. With Grass Lake closing the lead and less than 2 minutes to go it was Wallace hitting her fifth three-point shot of the game to give the Gators a little more breathing room.
Arbor Prep turned the ball over 21 times in the game against a strong Grass Lake defense, but the Gator’s defense was stronger forcing Grass Lake to take several poor shots and holding them to just 11-for-48 shooting in the game.
“Autumn Pernell, a lot of people around the state might not know her, but there’s not a better defender in the state,” Arbor Prep Head Coach Scott Stine said. “She guarded Grass Lake’s top guard Kate Starkey 90% of the time and did a great job. We know she loves to get to the hoop, so we tried to keep her out of the paint, and when she did get to the paint we did a good job of having two or three people waiting for her.”
The Gators (21-4) were led in scoring by Wallace with 17 points, Stacy Utomi with 13, and Angela Meggison with 6 points. Grass Lake finished its season at 19-5 and was led by Reese Lapke with 12 points.
“This was a great victory and it feels good, as good and special and meaningful as the previous 10,” Stine said after the victory. “Grass Lake is a great team. We made a lot of mistakes taking care of the ball but our defense, our toughness, I thought our effort on that end was tremendous.”
On Monday night in Onsted, the Gators went on to demolish Allen Park Cabrini 62-20. The Gators were led in scoring by Wallace with 14, Stephanie Utomi with 14, Bush with 9, Meggison with 8, and getting her first basket of her career as a Gator Freshman Madison Diarra. The Gators will play in Onsted Wednesday night against Brooklyn Columbia Central (16-8) at 7 P.M. in the Regional 22 Championship.
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