WHITE CLOUD — Shelby quickly snuffed out any drama from Wednesday night’s district semifinal game against Holton, as sophomore Jayna Burmeister scored three-point plays on each of the Tigers’ first two possessions. The Tigers cruised from there, dispatching Holton 54-15 to earn a finals date with rival Hart Friday.
Shelby had already defeated Holton twice, and Wednesday marked the second time in a row the Tigers allowed 15 points or fewer to their West Michigan Conference Rivers foes.
“Our 2-3 zone, we rotate, we move so well in it, and the girls are comfortable in it,” Shelby coach Sarah Wolting said. “Even more than a man-to-man, they’re more comfortable in the 2-3 zone. We were able to throw both presses at them a little bit tonight, play a little bit of man, and then even threw a 1-2-2 half-court zone at them. It was good to give (Hart and White Cloud) not too much to know what we were doing, but just enough.”
Burmeister was the offensive engine for Shelby all night, as usual, racking up 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting to go with 16 rebounds. However, fellow guard Michelle Peterson was just as potent early in the game, knocking down four three-pointers before halftime on her way to 14 points.
“I’m pretty confident in myself (to hit shots),” Peterson said. “I work in the gym a lot in the offseason, and during the season too when we don’t have practice.”
Wolting added that with opponents often packing the paint to guard against Burmeister’s ability to slash to the hoop, it’s important for shooters like Peterson to keep defenses honest.
“She knows that she has the green light,” Wolting said. “We’ve got to have her shooting as a threat just to pull some people out (of the paint). Even Jordan (Wolting) and Ava (Lamberg), they didn’t make any threes tonight, but we’ve got to have them shooting just to open stuff up in the middle. For Shelly, not a better time than the tournament to shoot well.”
The Tigers’ various defenses were all effective, setting up plenty of fast break opportunities. Holton called timeout a few different times in an attempt to slow down Shelby’s tidal wave of momentum, but without much success. Peterson said the team’s focus was limiting Holton star Kaylee McMillan, and apart from one three-pointer, the Tigers successfully shut her out of the score book.
It was the team’s determination to come out of the gates quickly, Wolting said, that bodes well for a tournament run.
“It definitely set the tone for us,” Wolting said. “We’ve played them so much that we knew what to do. That’s how we’ve got to come every game. That’s what I told them, is don’t come in timid, ever. We’ve got to come in ready always.”
The fourth quarter saw Jordan Wolting earn some good-natured razzing from her teammates. Not having shot any free throws all year, Wolting set a goal to get to the line Wednesday and was able to do it, setting off cheers from the bench. Unfortunately for her, she missed both her attempts, a fact her teammates will likely kid her about going forward.
There won’t be much time for joking, though, as the Tigers prepare for round three against rival Hart. Both the first two games were competitive despite being Tiger victories, and the team will expect nothing less Friday night.
Peterson described Shelby’s keys to winning Friday as “definitely our defense, and being able to score on offense, and not a lot of stupid turnovers.”
Annabelle Stark had eight boards for Shelby. Ava Lamberg passed out five assists.
