Grit Work: St. Mary gritty defense guides Eagles to 52-42 win over Glen Lake

Jan. 25—LAKE LEELANAU — Defense wins games, and that helped Division 4 ninth-ranked Lake Leelanau St. Mary on Wednesday.

"A lot of the things that we do are focused on defense," St. Mary senior Delana Kirt said. "Defense is key, and that's what we can control in a game."

St. Mary combined for 20 steals as Kirt led the team with eight in the 52-42 victory. Senior Kyla Barnowski had five, senior Della Bunek four and junior Cathryn Mikowski two.

The St. Mary girls basketball varsity squad hasn't had much luck against sixth-ranked Glen Lake in recent years. The Lakers won their previous two meetings by more than 20 points each.

"They've worked so hard this offseason," St. Mary head coach Clint Couturier said. "We keep telling them this is your moment."

St. Mary's defense pulled all the stops in the fourth quarter as the Lakers rallied back from a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter to cut it to four points.

The Eagles' defense pulled through to extended their winning streak to seven games.

"It feels awesome to know that we finally did it," Kirt said on beating Glen Lake. "They're always beating us every time we play them, but now we finally did it."

The Eagles held as much as a 20-point lead in the third quarter before the Lakers chipped into that in the fourth. St. Mary held the Lakers to just 13 points in the first half — only two points in the second quarter — by forcing over a dozen turnovers.

"We got so on our heels in the first half that we just got everybody out of sync," Lakers head coach Brad Fosmore said.

St. Mary got back to its defensive ways by forcing at least six steals in the third quarter, which helped it gain a 43-23 lead after Kirt drilled a deep three-pointer, but the Lakers kept the faith.

Freshman Lydia Fosmore put the Lakers on her back by scoring 10 of her 15 points in the second half. Lydia's scoring ability helped the Lakers finish the third quarter on a 5-0 run to make it 42-28.

She finished the night with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The Lakers built on the momentum by going on a 8-0 run to start the fourth quarter as the Eagles couldn't muster any points. The Eagles first basket came under four minutes as they extend the lead to 44-36.

"I thought we tried to live on the outside a bit too much and that we needed to attack the paint better, which Glen Lake did in the second half well," Couturier said.

Lakers junior Jesse Pugh kept the momentum alive by taking advantage of the paint for an easy layup to make it 44-38 with 2:30 left on the clock.

The Lakers chipped away at the Eagles' lead by taking advantage of the Eagles' free throw struggles to make it 44-40 with under 1:30 remaining.

Glen Lake tested their luck by fouling Muriel Korson sank a free throw to extend the lead 45-40.

The Lakers missed a three-pointer and the Eagles made their free throws and put the game out of reach.

Barnowski finished with 10 points, four rebounds and two assists. Bunek had nine points, two boards and two assists. Senior Leah Fleis collected eight points, one assist and a block.

Glen Lake senior Eleanor Valkner recorded another double-double with 10 points and 12 boards. Hailey Anderson tacked on eight points.

Brad Fosmore noted after the game that the Eagles' defense can be a learning tool as the season progresses. The Lakers (8-4, 6-0 Northwest) host Onekama on Friday.

"We've played a strong schedule in our conference and non conference games," Brad said. "So it's been tough. Every game is preparing us for the second half of conference play then going into the tournament."

St. Mary (10-1) welcomes Grand Traverse Academy on Feb. 1.