Champions alone: Inland Lakes girls beat St. Mary, capture Ski Valley hoops title outright
GAYLORD – Even after clinching at least a share of its first Ski Valley Conference championship in 20 years last week, the Inland Lakes girls' basketball team knew one more win would seal it outright.
So, the Bulldogs, behind outstanding defense and balanced scoring, went into a difficult environment and won the entire thing outright Tuesday night, beating the Gaylord St. Mary Snowbirds, 44-38.
“I was told tonight before that we had not beaten Gaylord St. Mary’s, in any location, in 22 years,” Inland Lakes coach Daryl Vizina said. “It’s a huge win for the girls. It’s a tough place to play, there’s not much space, and they’re (St. Mary) aggressive in their pressure defense. In my couple years here, it’s been a house of horrors. We’ve had some good teams that went down there and lost by 30, so for us to come go there tonight with everything that was at stake and to play exceptionally well, it’s really satisfying for them and for us.
"I think part of the motivation wasn't even the conference championship. It was to beat Gaylord St. Mary's."
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With the win, the Bulldogs (16-5, 14-2 Ski Valley) held off the Snowbirds (13-8, 12-4) and Johannesburg-Lewiston (16-5, 12-3), a pair of title contenders who now have three or more conference defeats.
It wasn’t a clinic offensively from the Bulldogs in the opening half on Tuesday, but they managed to build a 21-10 lead. While the Snowbirds closed the gap to single digits in the fourth, Inland Lakes did just enough to hang on for a history-making triumph.
"The Central Lake game, we had led the whole way, but before that we had been in four or five consecutive games against teams with winning records, and we trailed in nearly all of them in the fourth quarter. Tonight was sort of the opposite because we had a nice lead," Vizina said. "I think we missed 10 consecutive free throws in the fourth quarter, and that kind of let them back in the game. You could feel the tension kind of building as we had empty trip after empty trip, but our defense was phenomenal.
"Defense has really become our calling card."
Pacing the Bulldogs were junior Brooklyn LaBrecque and sophomore Chloe Robinson, who finished with 11 points each, while Mary Myshock had a strong night with eight points, Marissa Kolly and Elizabeth Furman tallied five each, and Andrea Vigneau and Taylor Jones added two apiece.
"Taylor Jones, she had to have 10 blocked shots tonight. She was absolutely phenomenal," Vizina said. "She fouled out with six minutes left to go in the game, but Andrea Vigneau came in and did an outstanding job as well. Those are high-pressure minutes for a sophomore to come in. She stepped in and handled her business and got us over the finish line. Chloe (Robinson) probably played her best game of the season. She scored, she defended. We tag-teamed (Kaylee Jeffers) with Mary Myshock and Elizabeth Furman, and they really contained her."
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Payton Glasby led the Snowbirds with 13 points. Jeffers added seven, Emery Blust recorded five, and Miriam Murrell had four.
Inland Lakes finishes off its regular season with a matchup at Harbor Springs on Thursday.
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Inland Lakes girls basketball clinches outright Ski Valley crown with victory at Gaylord St. Mary
