INDIANS TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS
By Matt Maher
GIRARD, OH – Girard pulled together another impressive win on Monday night when they took down conference foe, Hubbard, with a 46-37 victory. Besides the first quarter, The Indians played a consistent game and showed just how far they’ve come since their slow start in late November.
The First quarter saw Girard explode with a quick start that would see them net 8 points in the first half of the quarter but Hubbard came out of a timeout and matched the Indians and found themselves 8 points of their own to tie the game after the first frame. Girard saw senior Mia Malito score her first 5 points and Makenzee White hit a strong 3. Claire Murphy found 4 points for Hubbard while Cara Green and Phoebe Rusnak each put up 2.
Hubbards offense came to a halt in the second thanks to an aggressive defense from Girard that managed to force turnovers and rebounded missed shots to a high degree. The result of this defense saw Hubbard score 4 points to Girards 11. Khamyah Howell and Rheanna Barr each scored 2 points against the Indians in this frame while Jillian Palumbo missed both of her shots from the free throw line. Girard saw impressive scores from Malito, who scored 4 more points in the paint, ans Ally Gassman who threw an impressive 3 pointer.
After Halftime both teams came out with an even offense with both teams tallying 12 points. Hubbard saw Murphy score a 3 and Howell go 2-for-2 from the line as well as Green who found 3 of 4 shots go in as well. Mia Malito continued to be Mia Malito because she scored 6 points including 2 made free throws and 2 more buckets in the paint. White would also add 4 more points to her total.
The fourth Quarter was the quarter of free throws for Hubbard and the quarter of Mia Malito for Girard. Hubbard saw 14 free throw attempts split between 5 players: Murphy, Howell and Green who all went 1-for-2, Barr who went 2-for-2 and Jillian Palumbo who went 2-for-6 resulting in the team cashing in 7 of 14 free throws. Girard, however, saw the Malito train at full speed. Mia scored an impressive 11 points in this quarter with 5 made 2’s and 1 of 2 made free throws Mia Malito saw herself meet her true potential which was a great sight to see. Match Malito 11 with Whites 4 and Girard would match Hubbard 15-15.
While the Eagles played even with Girard for 3 quarters it would be the 2nd quarter that would decide this game and give The Indians their 4th conference win! Hubbard still played a very impressive game and should be proud of their performance against the Indians since they matched their energy all night long. Hubbard (OVR: 4-7) (CON: 2-3) are back home on January 11th when they host Lakeview for another big Northeast 8 matchup at 7:00PM. Girard (OVR: 5-6) (CON: 4-1) hits the road when they visit Niles to take on the Red Dragons on January 11th at 7:00PM.
