St. Mary tops Lady Cards in district final

A determined Gaylord St. Mary team came in with one goal last Friday, to advance to the next round of the Class D tournament. They used that determination to defeat the Lady Cardinals 56-25. Onaway used a tight zone, similar to the scheme used by Rogers City to keep their game close two nights before.

?We started off running a different defense tonight and I think the original plan was working. We restricted their shots and were doing exactly what we wanted to do defensively but our turnovers, that created easy buckets for them, took a lot of wind out of our sails,? said coach Marty Mix.

St. Mary used those turnovers and missed shots by the Cards, to run up an 8-2 lead in the game?s first five minutes. Molly Cleaver?s shot after a rebound gave the Cards their first points with 3:20 left in the quarter. A free throw from Kallie Rae Shimel was the other point as St. Mary led 11-3 after the first quarter.

St. Mary limited the Cards to one shot on offensive possessions and ran the court well to build a 23-8 lead midway through the second quarter. Courtney McGinn?s runner in the lane to open the quarter and Shimel?s three pointer from the left wing were the only Onaway points through the first five minutes of the quarter. Raquel Moran?s jumper from the free throw line and Sam Freel?s drive made the score 25-12 at halftime. The Cardinal fans grew quieter as St. Mary took a 42-18 lead after the third quarter. Freel had 10 points for Onaway while Shimel and Cleaver each scored four points.

?We said at the beginning of the year we wanted to get back to the district championship game and have a chance to win, but more than anything, we want to be a team when it i

s all said and done. We don?t want the negative drama. For that, I was probably one of the more enjoyable seasons I have ever coached,? Mix said after the game. The loss was tough to take, especially in front of the hometown fans, but Mix said he was proud of the effort given by his players.

?I will miss the seniors. You never replace anyone who graduates, you remember them and then you reload the following year. The team will lose McGinn, Moran, Kate Robins to graduation, as well as Kate Chapman who missed the season due to injury. Mixed praised the efforts of St. Mary, who advanced to the regional round.

?They are a good ball club. They are coached well, they play well, they play together and that is ultimately the reason we lost. We got beat by better team, but along the way we didn?t help ourselves with some of the mistakes we made,? Mix said.