By Greg Chrapek
WKTV Contributor
Defense was the name of the game as Potter’s House Christian defeated West Michigan Aviation 54-23 in an Alliance League girls basketball game.
The Pumas took command of the game with their lock-down defense right from the opening tip allowing just a single point in the first quarter and a single field goal in the second period enroute to taking a commanding 25-3 halftime lead.
“We got our full-court press working pretty well,” said Potter’s House Christian coach Jake Hoogstrate. “Our pressure forced a lot of turnovers.”
Ivy Andreas was one of the ringleaders of the Puma defense.
“Ivy was all over the place defensively,” Hoogstrate said. “She was a big key in limiting them to three points in the first half. She also had a lot of assists on offense and played a great game.”
Playing strong defense is a point of pride for the Pumas who improved to 8-4 overall for the season and 2-0 in the Alliance League.
“We pride ourselves in how we play defense,” Hoogstrate said. “Playing strong defense is definitely a focus of our team over the years. We definitely didn’t play great defense on Tuesday at Saugatuck so we wanted to come out tonight and play great defense.”
Potter’s House extended the lead to 37-10 at the end of the third quarter and outscored West Michigan Aviation 17-13 in the final quarter.
“We got off to a hot start which was fun,” Hoogstrate said. “It’s always good to see the ball go in the basket early.”
Anyieth Nhial led the way on offense for the Pumas with 23 points. Joy McClendon added eight points while Annie Winkle, Emily Baez and Emonne Craig added six points apiece.
Potter’s House Christian returns to action Tuesday when it hosts Muskegon Oakridge.
West Michigan Aviation was led on offense by Ava Bazuin who scored 13 of the Aviators 23 points. West Michigan Aviation fell to 5-7 overall for the season and 1-1 in the conference. The Aviators are off until Jan. 25 when they travel to Grand Rapids Sacred Heart.
