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Slow first half haunts Rockets

Avery Bundgaard | Daily Press Rapid River’s Elizabeth Goodacre (23) goes up for a layup over Stephenson’s Emily Johnson (13) Wednesday night at Rapid River.

RAPID RIVER — The Stephenson girls’ basketball team got off to a fast start Wednesday and held off Rapid River to win 53-43.

It was a game of two halves as the Eagles (4-16) ran out to an early lead but the Rockets (7-12) scrapped back with a big second half.

“Overall, I thought we played pretty well,” said Stephenson coach Shanna Beal. “We had ball movement and minimal ball movement. Rapid River is a scrappy team and they fought back.”

Neither team shot well as the Eagles hit 19-of-66 (29 percent) from the field and the Rockets went 16-of-70 (23 percent) in this non-conference game.

“We were were a little slow in the first half but came back in the second half with a major spark,” said Rapid River coach Jen King. “There just wasn’t enough time in that fourth quarter. They definitely got guts and they got fire.”

The Rockets scored first but missed their next 13 shots as Stephenson took advantage with a 9-0 run. Rapid River did end its slump at the end of the quarter, trailing 12-8 heading into the second quarter.

The Eagles started to pull away in the second quarter. The Rockets cut the lead to two early in the quarter but Stephenson responded with a 14-3 run to head into halftime leading 28-15.

Rapid River came out strong in the third quarter going on a 10-0 run to open up the half to pull within three. Stephenson pushed the lead back to nine but Rockets responded with a 6-0 run to end the quarter cutting the deficit to 36-33.

“We went man-to-man on them on our press,” said King. “We picked them up and we came out with a little bit more intensity.”

The Rockets kept it close for most of the fourth quarter coming within two at one point but ran out of steam as they missed their last nine shots. Stephenson took advantage by putting the game out of reach in the last couple minutes.

Senior Kyleigh Cross led Stephenson with 13 points and 21 rebounds. Sophomore Autumn Rasner added 10 for the Eagles.

Senior Erica Rubick led the Rockets with 13 points and nine rebounds. Juniors Elizabeth Goodacre and Rachel Bintner each added 11.

Rapid River hosts Munising tonight.

Stephenson 12 16 8 17 — 53

Rapid River 8 7 18 10 — 43

Stephenson — Hukarevic 8, Rasner 10, Tharp 3, Johnson 8, Truitt 5, Kuntze 6, Cross 13; FT: 11-20; F: 11; Fouled out: none; 3-point field goals: Rasner 2, Johnson 2.

Rapid River — Rubick 13, Schwartz 1, Pryal 5, Goodacre 11, Bintner 11, LaCosse 2; FT: 7-12; F: 18; Fouled out: LaCosse; 3-point field goals: Pryal 1, Bintner 3.

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