SHELBY — For four straight seasons, Hart was the bully on the block in the West Michigan Conference Rivers, winning every league game it played. Last Thursday night, it was rival Shelby that sent the message that it’s the Tigers’ time now, defeating the Pirates 49-38.
Jayna Burmeister scored seven consecutive first-quarter points on her way to a team-high 17 for the game to give Shelby a 9-2 lead in the first quarter. The Tigers never gave up that lead, swarming Hart ballhandlers and forcing the Pirates to act more quickly than they were comfortable doing.
Spearheading the Tiger defense were guards Ava Lamberg and Michelle Peterson, who made life difficult for top Hart scorer Rilynn Porter, though Porter still managed a game-high 19 points, seven of them in the fourth quarter as Hart tried to overcome a double-digit deficit.
“Ava is just so good on defense,” Shelby coach Sarah Woilting said. “I don’t know if there’s anyone in the conference that is as good as she is. To guard, probably, the best guard in the conference, and do what she did, she’s just so good.
“I told her, ‘You’re going to pick up fouls, but know that your teammate knows who to help.’ We were ready to help. Jayna had to guard (Porter) for a little bit when Ava got in foul trouble. Shelly just sees the floor so well and anticipated tips. Our defense is what I felt won it for us tonight.”
The only thing that slowed the Tigers (2-0, 1-0 WMC Rivers) down was foul trouble, which can be a byproduct of the aggressive style of defense Shelby employed. Kylie Brown, the Tigers’ best post defender, picked up her third foul early in the second quarter and had to go to the bench for some time, during which time the Pirates managed to get as close as four points. Porter scored a three-point play, making an acrobatic basket while being fouled, to make the score 20-16 late in the second quarter.
A smiling Brown said that “it sucks” to go to the bench with foul trouble, but was thrilled the Tiger defense was so effective in the win.
“It’s great that we get to push the speed, push the tempo, take it to teams,” Brown said.
Shelby's Kylie Brown (left) and Jayna Burmeister pursue a loose ball heading out of bounds during Thursday's game against Hart. The Pirates' Joselyn Flores looks on. The Tigers won the game, 49-38.
The Tigers were not perfect on offense, but were more efficient and decisive than were the Pirates. Shelby was less deadly from long range than it was in its season-opening win over Whitehall - the Tigers hit five three-pointers Thursday - but that was at least in part due to an apparent effort to attack the basket.
That emphasis on getting to the rim was never clearer than early in the third quarter, when the Tigers were clearly determined to score from in close. They ripped off a 17-4 scoring run in the third using the strategy and were never threatened again.
“That’s really where we’re best,” Wolting said. “Shelly and Jayna are best at attacking and finishing. Even (Annabelle Stark), she can dribble around so many people. We knew that if we got them in foul trouble, it would hurt them. Overall, I think we’re a little bit stronger around the hoop finishing, so we knew that’s what we needed to do.”
For Hart (1-1, 0-1 WMC Rivers), having to bounce back from a league loss is something none of the current Pirates have ever had to do. Coach Ron Williamson said he’s optimistic his team will respond in the right way.
“I hope it lights a spark under them,” Williamson said. “We preach to learn from our failures, and today we failed in areas, and that’s how you’re going to get better, is through those experiences and how we respond to it. I’m expecting that we’re going to have a positive response and the season’s going to still be a positive season.”
Williamson said he felt the Pirates are better than they played against Shelby, and the team will have to work on turnovers to improve.
Shelby, meanwhile, takes over as the top cats in the WMC Rivers, and Wolting wasted no time letting her players know the target is now on their back at least as much as Hart’s.
“We’ve got to get better before the next time we play them, because we know they’re going to get better,” Wolting said of Hart. “We’re not looking past anyone. We’re taking it one game at a time, focusing on what we’ve got to do against that team.”
