Blue Devils’ pressure defense too much for Esky girls basketball team
By Mike Mattson
mmattson@dailypress.net
ESCANABA – It seemed like deja vu for the Escanaba girls varsity basketball team Saturday afternoon.
The Eskymos again played Sault Ste. Marie in an early-season game. The Blue Devils again swarmed Esky with strong defensive pressure. And the blue and white again prevailed, 43-29, in nonconference action.
“It was a flashback to last year,” Esky coach Mike Beveridge said. “They put pressure on us and we didn’t handle it well. Our girls played timid and a little afraid.”
Esky (1-1) turned the ball over 27 times and never could get into a consistent offensive flow. Credit the Blue Devils for making the Eskymos’ Parents Night contest a chore from start to finish.
“I was really happy with our defensive pressure all game long,” said Blue Devils’ coach Pat Bennin, whose team won last year’s meeting 69-45 and launched this season with an impressive win. “It didn’t look like our first game. We had a ton of energy. We had outstanding energy on defense.”
Sault Ste. Marie relied on a balanced offensive attack, led by Ava Andary (12 points, 8 rebounds), guard Mackenzie Kalchik (nine points, three assists, three steals) and Victora Nagy (seven points, seven rebounds), who gave the Blue Devils a boost off the bench.
Leading Esky were guard Lexy Chaillier (seven points,) 6-3 center Jen Brandt (six points, eight rebounds, three blocks) and Maddy Willis (seven rebounds).
The Blue Devils mixed up their pressure, but created a lot of problems with an effective 1-3-1 halfcourt defense. Esky had trouble getting into its offensive sets in the half-court setting.
“They gave our guards fits and we couldn’t get (the ball) over the top,” Beveridge said.
Rebounding was another key for the visitors as they outrebounded Esky 27-25, with 16 coming on the offensive glass.
“We got good second-shot opportunities,” Bennin said. “We had a concern with their size coming in. We knew we had to rebound the basketball. This was a good start for us.”
The Eskymos trailed 16-8 after one quarter and 26-14 at halftime.
Esky turned up its defensive pressure in the third quarter and outscored the Blue Devils 6-3. It looked like the Eskymos would have good momentum after trimming the deficit to 29-20 entering the fourth quarter.
But Sault Ste. Marie scored the first four points of the fourth quarter and had a 14-9 advantage in the last eight minutes to seal the victory.
Both teams struggled with shooting at 26 percent. Esky made 10-of-39 shots and Soo converted 16-of-61 shots.
Sault Ste. Marie finished with 20 turnovers, with five coming in the first half.
The Blue Devils, who won the jayvee game 41-34, return to action Friday at St. Ignace.
Escanaba faces a tough week, traveling to Negaunee Tuesday and Marquette Thursday. Beveridge said his team will learn from Saturday’s loss and hopefully handle defensive pressure better this week.
“We’re OK,” Beveridge said. “We know what we have to work on. We’ll bounce back. We’re not going to get frustrated. It’s only game two.”
Sault Ste. Marie 16 10 3 14 – 43
Escanaba 8 6 6 9 – 29
Sault Ste. Marie -Kalchik 9, Andary 12, Nagy 7, Wilhelms 3, Bell 4, Scott 3, Gage 5; FT: 8-16; F: 18; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Kalchik 2, Wilhelms 1.
Escanaba – Cousineau 3, Theut 2, Marenger 1, Sliva 2, Willis 3, Barron 2, Gauthier 1, Griffin 2, Chaillier 7, Brandt 6. FT: 7-10; F: 18; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Cousineau 1, Chaillier 1.