By Mark Blentlinger
On senior night, members of the Schoolcraft girls basketball team were honored along with their parents. Senior members of the team are Livia Ellison, Lauren Evens, Mia Mulder, Clara Ledlow and Natalie Glerum.
The girls were ahead of the visiting Panthers at the end of the first period, 12-8. During the first 5 minutes of the 2nd period, the Eagles started to hit their stride, opening up a 10-point lead on the Panthers 20-10. That stride stalled in the last 3 minutes of the half, with the Eagles only adding a single bucket to go into halftime with a 22-15 lead.
Coach Kulchyk must have delivered some good words of encouragement for his players. In the first minute of the 3rd period the Eagles dropped two 3 pointers and a 2-point bucket to stretch the lead to 30-15. At the 5-minute mark, Parchment called a timeout to give players a breather since the Eagles just kept putting the ball in from outside the arc, taking their lead up to 35-15. At the end of the 3rd period, the Eagles really opened the lead with a 30-point advantage, 47-17.
With 8 minutes remaining, the Panthers had a steep hill to climb if they wanted to knock the Eagles off their perch. With 2 minutes remaining in the game, the Schoolcraft seniors walked off the home court they played on for so many years and hugged their teammates and coaches. The underclassmen finished out the game. Addison Sziede stole a Panthers pass and scored a layup as the buzzer sounded, marking the end of the game with a score of 58-25.
