Laingsburg at Dansville – – CMAC Girls Game of the Week – – The Bleacher Denizen – – January 13, 2023 – – by Chuck Krafft

Tonight, the Bleacher Denizen is headed to Dansville High School, where the Aggies will host the Wolfpack Girls from Laingsburg. Dansville is undefeated in the CMAC with a 5-0 record. Their only loss this season is to Dearborn Divine Child, a Division 2 school that has over three times as many students as Dansville. Laingsburg is 2-3 in the CMAC and 6-4 overall.

Your Bleacher Denizen had nice driving weather and made his way to the Big Barn at the DAC, which is the newest and probably the nicest gym in the area. The people at Dansville were kind and welcomed me personally on the interactive scoreboard.

While we wait for the teams to warm up, let’s go to my You Tube Channel to listen to Glow Worm, a fun tune from the fifties that is performed by many school bands. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbyez-hYtDY

Ellie Baynes is a versatile player for the Wolfpack, who defends well either near the basket or on the perimeter. She is a good shooter from the three point line and can slash to the basket as well. She leads the Wolfpack in scoring and rebounding. Ella Merrell can hit the outside shot and is also able to slash to the basket.

Bella Strieff is a fine rebounder who can shoot the midrange jumper. Ashlee Hawes and Callie Clark can hit the three ball and do a lot of the Wolfpack ball handling. Kyleigh Luna adds quickness and speed to the Wolfpack lineup along with a three point shot. Mallory Woodbury is a freshman who can drive to the basket and has a solid shot. Evelyn Logghe brings speed and quickness to the Wolfpack. Harper Strouse always brings energy and plays hard.

Megan Zeitz is a fine all-around player for Dansville. She is tall and strong enough to defend in the post. She is quick enough to defend in the backcourt as well. Her length and quickness present many a problem for opposing offenses. On offense, she has a wide variety of skills with no real weaknesses as well. She is an excellent ball handler and passer. She is able to see above defenses; when driving to the basket, she is excellent at finding teammates for layups and open shots. She is an excellent scorer as well; she can drive to the basket with a variety of moves and also has an accurate three point shot.

Kourtney Mack is an excellent three point shooter who also handles the ball well. She is also a strong perimeter defender and solid ball handler and passer. Elizabeth Carpenter is a strong rebounder and post defender with a solid mid-range jump shot. Emily Tringal and Alaina Broyles defend and rebound well in the post. Gracie Taylor is a fine ball handler who runs the point much of the time for the Aggies. She is a threat from the three point line and an active perimeter defender as well. Izzy Joseph has an accurate three point shot.

It is now time to review the events of this game from the perspective of an aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league in the ancient times when he attempted to play. Many people criticized the Bleacher Denizen’s defensive lateral quickness, although to be fair, many players struggled to move side to side in the sandals that were part of our basketball uniforms back then.

Laingsburg wins the opening tap. Megan Zeitz knocks the ball away from the Wolfpack and Elizabeth Carpenter picks it up for the Aggies. Bella Strieff knocks the ball away from Dansville and Callie Clark picks it up for Laingsburg. Laingsburg misses a fifteen foot shot from the side of the lane. Bella Strieff pulls down the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Ella Merrell is fouled on a jump shot and hits two free throws to give Laingsburg a 2-0 lead with 6:19 to play in the first quarter.

Dansville misses a jumper from the free throw line. Laingsburg is fouled on a driving layup, but misses both its free throws. Megan Zeitz passes to Elizabeth Carpenter, who hits a layup for the Aggies to tie the game. Bella Strieff passes to Callie Clark, who hits a sixteen foot shot from the side for Laingsburg. Dansville misses a layup. Gracie Taylor knocks the ball out of bounds; the Wolfpack retain possession. Laingsburg misses a sixteen foot shot from the wing. Dansville misses a jumper from the free throw line. Bella Strieff passes out to Ellie Baynes, who hits a three point shot from the side to give Laingsburg a 7-2 lead.

Megan Zeitz passes to Kourtney Mack, who throws in a threeball from the corner for Dansville. A Laingsburg dribbler steps on the baseline. Dansville misses a fifteen foot shot from the side. Laingsburg misfires on a threeball from the corner. Gracie Taylor hits a three point shot off the dribble from the side to give Dansville an 8-7 lead.

Elizabeth Carpenter taps the ball away from Laingsburg, but the Wolfpack is able to recover. Megan Zeitz steals the ball for Dansville. Dansville misses a fifteen foot fast break jumper from the wing. Anna McDaniel steals the ball for Dansville and passes to Kourtney Mack, who hits a fast break layup to boost the Aggie lead to 10-7.

Kourtney Mack steals the ball. Dansville is fouled on a fast break layup, but misses both its free throws. Gracie Taylor ties up the offensive rebound. The Possession Arrow and its posse love Ms. Taylor’s hustle and award the ball to Dansville. Callie Clark blocks an Aggie layup. Alaina Broyles forces a Wolfpack traveling violation. Dansville misses a three point shot from the wing at the buzzer.

After one quarter, Dansville has a 10-7 lead.

Laingsburg inbounds the ball to open the second quarter. The Wolfpack misfires on a threeball from the side. Dansville reciprocates and misfires on a threeball from the side. Laingsburg is assessed with a traveling violation. Dansville reciprocates and is assessed with a traveling violation. Laingsburg misses a threeball from the corner. Bella Strieff pulls down the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg is fouled on a layup, but misses two free throws. With 6:47 to play in the second quarter, Dansville has a 10-7 lead.

Dansville misfires on a threeball from the side. Alaina Broyles gets the offensive rebound for the Aggies. Ella Merrell steals the ball and streaks down the court for a fast break layup, but Dansville tackles her before she gets to the goal line and Laingsburg has a first and ten. (Oops, that sentence is for the fall season.) However Ella Merrell IS awarded two free throws and hits one of them to trim the Aggie lead to 10-8 with 6:31 remaining in the first half.

Megan Zeitz drives and dishes the ball to Elizabeth Carpenter, who hits a layup for the Aggies. Callie Clark passes to Ashlee Hawes, who sinks a three point shot from the side to cut the Dansville lead to 12-11.

Dansville misses a layup. Laingsburg misses a three point shot from the wing. Megan Zeitz throws a long touchdown pass to Gracie Taylor, who hits a fast break layup and gives Dansville a 14-11 lead.

Laingsburg misses a sixteen foot shot from the wing. Ashlee Hawes gets the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg misses a layup. Dansville misses a ten foot shot off the dribble in the lane and fouls on the rebound. Megan Zeitz blocks a Laingsburg triple try. Ellie Baynes steals the ball for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg misses a jump shot off the dribble from the free throw line. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Wolfpack gets another opportunity.

Dansville tips the inbound pass; Callie Clark is nearly able to save the ball for Laingsburg, but steps on the baseline. The Aggies throw a pass out of bounds. Kourtney Mack steals the ball for Dansville. A foul before the shot negates a Dansville layup. Ellie Baynes and Ella Merrell team up to force Dansville to travel on a shot. Laingsburg misses a short hook shot in the lane. Izzy Joseph passes to Elizabeth Carpenter, who hits a jump shot from the free throw line to give Dansville a 16-11 lead.

Laingsburg misses a ten foot shot in the lane. Ellie Baynes grabs the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Alaina Broyles blocks a Laingsburg layup. Dansville travels with the ball. (Basketball cliches can be interesting – – somehow I doubt that traveling without the ball would be terribly newsworthy.) Ellie Baynes ignores the Bleacher Denizen’s fixation on semantics and hits a three point shot from the corner to cut the Dansville lead to 16-14.

Dansville misses a threeball from the wing. Laingsburg throws a pass out of bounds. Dansville misses a three pointer from the wing. Alaina Broyles pulls down the offensive rebound for the Aggies. Dansville holds for the last shot, but is not able to shoot before the halftime buzzer makes its presence known.

Dansville has a 16-14 halftime lead.

Ellie Baynes leads the Laingsburg scoring with 6 points.

Elizabeth Carpenter has 6 points for Dansville. Gracie Taylor and Kourtney Mack each have 5 points.

Dansville has its third grade girls playing a spirited halftime exhibition.

As we can’t see it, maybe we can look at this video of this original tune from my You Tube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol3R-ZL9568

Dansville inbounds the ball to get the third quarter underway. Ellie Baynes steals the ball for Laingsburg. The Wolfpack miss a three pointer from the top of the key. Dansville misses a ten foot shot from the side. Kourtney Mack steals the ball for Dansville. The Aggies miss a fast break layup. Kourtney Mack hits a putback for Dansville. Laingsburg turns the ball over. Dansville mislaunches a threeball from the side. Kourtney Mack steals the ball for Dansville and passes to Gracie Taylor for a fast break layup that boosts the Aggie lead to 20-14.

Ellie Baynes drives and dishes the ball to Bella Strieff, who hits a ten foot shot from the side for Laingsburg. Megan Zeitz is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws for Dansville. Megan Zeitz steals the ball for the Aggies, is fouled on a layup and hits two more free throws for Dansville. With 5:40 to play in the third quarter, Dansville has a 24-16 lead.

Dansville’s stringent defense prevents Laingsburg from advancing the ball past midcourt in the required ten seconds and the Wolfpack turn the ball over. Dansville misses a three point shot from the corner. Megan Zeitz steals the ball and hits a fast break layup for Dansville. Megan Zeitz steals the ball. Dansville misses a fast break layup. Kourtney Mack is fouled on a putback and hits two free throws to push Dansville to a 28-16 lead with 4:20 to go in the quarter.

Laingsburg turns the ball over against the Dansville press. Dansville misses a threeball from the top of the key. Laingsburg misses a fourteen foot shot from the wing. Kourtney Mack hits a fast break layup for Dansville. Kourtney Mack blocks a Laingsburg layup; the ball goes out of bounds and the Wolfpack gets it back. Kyleigh Luna passes to Ellie Baynes, who is fouled as she shoots a layup. Ellie Baynes hits one of her two free throws to trim the Aggie lead to 30-17 with 2:59 left on the third quarter clock.

Dansville misses a three point attempt from the wing. Kourtney Mack blocks a Laingsburg hook/layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and the Wolfpack gets it back. Laingsburg misses a fifteen foot shot from the side of the lane.

Bella Strieff gets her hand on an Aggie pass, but Dansville recovers. Dansville misses a driving layup. Elizabeth Carpenter pulls down the offensive rebound for the Aggies. Anna McDaniel hits a three point shot from the wing for Dansville. Kourtney Mack steals the ball and is fouled on a fast break layup. She hits two free throws to boost Dansville to a 35-17 lead with 1:19 left in the third quarter.

Ella Merrell passes to Bella Strieff, who hits a three point shot from the side. Dansville misses a jump shot from the free throw elbow. Anna McDaniel gets the offensive rebound for the Aggies. Bella Strieff blocks a Dansville layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and Dansville gets it back. The Aggies throw a pass out of bounds with just two seconds to play in the quarter. Laingsburg misses a long heave at the buzzer.

After three quarters are done, Dansville has a 35-20 lead.

Laingsburg has the ball to start out the fourth quarter. The Wolfpack misses a three point shot from the side. Ellie Baynes steals the ball and hits a layup for Laingsburg. Dansville misses a three point shot from the wing. Elizabeth Carpenter ties up the rebound for Dansville. The Possession Arrow looks up from its corned beef sandwich and awards the ball to Dansville. Mallory Woodbury knocks the ball away from Dansville and Bella Strieff grabs it for Laingsburg.

Laingsburg misses a three point shot from the wing. Mallory Woodbury gets the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg is whistled for a traveling violation. Dansville misses a three point shot from the top of the key. Kourtney Mack steals a Wolfpack pass into the lane. Kourtney Mack tosses a long pass to Megan Zeitz, who hits a layup to give Dansville a 37-22 lead.

Laingsburg misfires on a triple try from the corner. Mallory Woodbury hits a putback for the Wolfpack. Dansville commits a traveling violation. Megan Zeitz knocks the ball out of bounds; Laingsburg retains possession. Kourtney Mack steals the ball for Dansville and passes to Megan Zeitz, who is fouled on a fast break layup. Megan Zeitz hits one of her two free throws to give her Aggies a 38-24 lead with 5:21 left on the clock.

Megan Zeitz steals the ball and hits a fast break layup for Dansville. Gracie Taylor steals the ball and hits a layup for Dansville. Izzy Joseph and Kourtney Mack apply a double team to force a Laingsburg traveling violation. Dansville throws a pass too high and out of bounds. Laingsburg misses a sixteen foot shot from the side. Laingsburg misses an eight foot turnaround jumper from the side. Kourtney Mack passes to Alaina Broyles, who hits a layup to give Dansville a 44-24 lead.

Laingsburg misses a three point shot from the side. Evelyn Logghe knocks the ball away from Dansville and Harper Strouse picks it up for Laingsburg. Harper Strouse hits a fast break layup to trim the Aggie lead to 44-26.

Ashlee Hawes steals the ball for Laingsburg. The Wolfpack misses a three pointer from the side. Mallory Woodbury gets the offensive rebound for Laingsburg. Emily Tringal blocks a Laingsburg runner in the lane. Dansville misses a three point shot from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Aggies get the ball back.

Mallory Woodbury steals the ball for Laingsburg. Laingsburg misses a fast break layup. Mallory Woodbury gets the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg is fouled on a layup, but misses two free throws with 13.9 seconds to play. Dansville runs out the clock.

Dansville wins this CMAC matchup by a 44-26 score.

Ellie Baynes led the Laingsburg scoring with 9 points. Bella Strieff added 5 points. Ella Merrell and Ashlee Hawes each added 3 points. Mallory Woodbury, Callie Clark and Harper Strouse each tallied 2 points.

Kourtney Mack had 13 points to lead Dansville. Megan Zeitz supported her teammate with 11 points. Gracie Taylor threw in 9 points. Elizabeth Carpenter totaled 6 points. Anna McDaniel had 3 points and Alaina Broyles scored 2 points.