DeWitt at Grand Ledge – – Girls Basketball – – The Bleacher Denizen – – December 15, 2023 – – by Chuck Krafft
Your Bleacher Denizen is going to be doing his first girl/boy doubleheader tonight as the Comets from Grand Ledge will be hosting the Panthers from DeWitt. The Panthers come into the game with an undefeated record while the Comets are seeking their first win of the season.
While we wait for the game to start, I’m hoping you’ll enjoy this original tune from my You Tube Channel. It tells “the rest of the story” in regard to the unfortunate encounter between Grandma and the reindeer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp3FW5dhL3E
DeWitt Coach Bill McCullen was really helpful with information about his Panther players. Madi Uyl is coming off an injury. She has some of the quickest hands and feet I’ve ever seen and she is a threat to steal the ball from any ball handler any time. She is also solid running the point on office and is great slashing to the basket. Tara Kurncz is a talented scorer. She can slash to the basket and is a huge threat from the three point line.
Carly Dennis and Madison McDonald play in the post where both offer the Panthers consistent defense, strong rebounding and good post scoring. Laynie Hanlin is a fine three point shooter and perimeter defender. Ryleigh Hanlin is a determined perimeter defender. Kennedy Goerge is a good rebounder and defender in the post.
Grand Ledge Coach Beth Perez provided this information about her Comet players. Olivia Navin, who would have been tonight’s starting point guard is out with an injury. Also, Kate Oberdank will miss the season with an injury.
Alayna Armstrong is a senior team leader who is a fine rebounder, defender and scorer in the post. Lexi Raska is a fine perimeter defender who passes well and is a big threat from the three point line. Gianna Naccarato is an excellent perimeter defender who can slash to the basket or shoot from the three point line. Aviana Skinner puts her quickness to use as a tough perimeter defender. Kiara Page is a fine rebounder and defender in the post.
It is now time to review the events of this game through the occasionally open eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to play ball in the medieval days when many considered him to be “young.” His three point suffered badly when the basketball powers that be refused to allow him to use his catapult to help launch them.
Grand Ledge wins the opening tap. The Comets miss a driving layup and foul on the rebound. Alayna Armstrong steals the ball for the Comets. Grand Ledge misses a three point shot from the side and fouls on the rebound. Tara Kurncz drives and hits a layup to give DeWitt the first two points of the game. Grand Ledge misses a layup. DeWitt misses a driving layup. Madi Uyl steals the ball and is fouled on a fast break layup. She sinks her two free throws to give her Panthers a 4-0 lead with 6:00 remaining in the first quarter.
Madison McDonald nearly steals the ball for the Panthers, but the Comets recover. The Comets miss a ten foot shot from the side. Gianna Naccarato pulls down the offensive rebound for the Comets. Alayna Armstrong is fouled on a shot and hits one of her two free throws to trim the Panther lead to 4-1 with 5:27 to go in the quarter.
DeWitt misses a driving layup. Grand Ledge reciprocates and misses a driving layup. DeWitt is fouled on a six foot shot from the side, but misses its free throws. Madison McDonald grabs the offensive rebound for the Panthers. DeWitt misses a threeball from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Panthers get another opportunity. DeWitt misses a driving layup. Alayna Armstrong does a post move and hits an eight foot hook shot for the Comets to trim the Panther lead to 4-3.
Laynie Hanlin hits a ten foot shot off the dribble from the baseline for the Panthers. Madi Uyl and Tara Kurncz team up to force Grand Ledge into a traveling violation. Lexi Raska gets her hand on the ball, but the Panthers are able to recover. DeWitt misses a jump shot. Grand Ledge misfires on a triple try from the side. Sophia Beland passes to Ryleigh Hanlin, who hits a three point shot from the side to give her Panthers a 9-3 lead.
Grand Ledge bounces a pass out of bounds. Lexi Raska gets her hand on the ball and Kiara Page picks it up for the Comets. Grand Ledge misses a fast break layup. Carly Dennis hits a fast break layup for DeWitt. Grand Ledge misses a three point shot from the side. DeWitt misses a fast break layup. Sophia Beland grabs the offensive rebound for the Panthers. Madi Uyl tosses in a threeball from the top of the key to give DeWitt a 14-3 lead.
Alayna Armstrong hits a three point shot from the corner for the Comets. Madison McDonald passes to Carly Dennis, who hits a three point shot from the corner for DeWitt. Ryleigh Hanlin steals the ball for the Panthers and Carly Dennis hits a fast break layup. Grand Ledge misses a layup. Sophia Beland hits one of her two free trows to give DeWitt a 20-6 lead with 7.8 seconds to go in the first quarter.
Grand Ledge has no time to shoot before the buzzer blares.
DeWitt has a 20-6 lead after one quarter.
DeWitt has the ball to open the second quarter. Kiara Page nearly steals the ball for Grand Ledge, but DeWitt recovers. The Panthers miss a driving layup. Grand Ledge misses a layup. Aviana Skinner hits a putback for the Comets. DeWitt misses an eight foot shot from the baseline. Tara Kurncz grabs the offensive rebound for the Comets. DeWitt is assessed with a traveling violation. Aviana Skinner passes to Genna Ketola, who hits a layup for Grand Ledge to trim the DeWitt lead to 20-10.
Madi Uyl passes to Tara Kurncz, who hits a three point shot from the corner for DeWitt. Grand Ledge misses a driving layup. Aviana Skinner gets the offensive rebound for the Comets. Grand Ledge misses a three point shot from the corner. Aviana Skinner hits a putback to shave the DeWitt lead to 23-12.
DeWitt misses a sixteen foot shot from the baseline. Grand Ledge misses a layup. Aviana Skinner stands tall in the lane and foils a DeWitt fast break when the Panthers travel. Grand Ledge misses a fifteen foot shot from the side. Lexi Raska blocks a DeWitt layup. DeWitt recovers the loose ball. Sophia Beland drives and hits a layup to give the Panthers a 25-12 lead.
Grand Ledge commits a traveling violation. DeWitt misfires on a triple try from the wing. Madi Uyl snags the offensive rebound for the Panthers. DeWitt misses a driving layup. Grand Ledge misses a layup. The rebound is tied up; the Possession Arrow consults its Holiday Decoration Committee and it is decided that the ball would look better in the hands of the Comets, so Grand Ledge gets the ball. The Comets miss a threeball from the side. Genna Ketola hits a putback to cut the Panther lead to 25-14.
DeWitt misses a driving layup. Sophia Beland steals the ball for the Panthers. DeWitt misses a three point shot from the wing. Genna Ketola hits a fifteen foot shot from the baseline for Grand Ledge. DeWitt misses a three point shot from the corner. Madi Uyl hits a putback for the Panthers. Grand Ledge travels with the ball. (Basketball cliches can be interesting. I’m not sure how newsworthy it would be to travel without the ball.) DeWitt misses a three point shot from the wing. Grand Ledge misses a three pointer from the wing as the halftime buzzer makes its presence known.
At halftime, Alayna Armstrong and Genna Ketola each have 6 points to lead Grand Ledge.
Madi Uyl and Carly Dennis each have 7 points for DeWitt. Tara Kurncz has 5 points.
As there is no halftime entertainment, I hope you will enjoy a couple Christmas tunes from my You Tube Channel!
“Holly Jolly Christmas” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msk3US5xeZc
A ragtimey version of “Jolly Old St. Nicholas” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15alGV17hKI
DeWitt inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. Tara Kurncz drives and hits a layup for the Panthers. Grand Ledge misses a layup. Alayna Armstrong hits a putback for Grand Ledge. Laynie Hanlin passes to Tara Kurncz, who hits a three point shot from the side for DeWitt. Tara Kurncz steals the ball and hits a fast break layup for the Panthers. She is fouled on the play and makes her free throw to boost DeWitt to a 35-18 lead with 6:48 left in the third quarter.
Grand Ledge loses the ball out of bounds. DeWitt misses a driving layup. Grand Ledge misfires on a triple try from the wing. DeWitt misses a driving layup. Grand Ledge commits a traveling violation. DeWitt misses a three pointer from the corner and fouls on the rebound. Aviana Skinner drives across the lane and hits a hook shot for Grand Ledge. DeWitt misses a driving layup. Lexi Raska drives and hits a layup. She is fouled on the play and hits her free throw to trim the DeWitt lead to 35-23 with 4:51 to play in the third quarter.
DeWitt misses a three point shot from the wing. Sophia Beland gets the offesnive rebound for the Panthers. DeWitt misses a jump shot. Grand Ledge misses a layup. DeWitt misses a driving layup. Genna Ketola hits a putback to cut the DeWitt lead to 35-25.
DeWitt misses a six foot banked shot. Sophia Beland steals the ball for the Panthers and the Comets foul trying to recover it. Grand Ledge misses a threeball from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and the Comets get another possession. Sophia Beland steals a Comet pass into the lane. DeWitt misses a three point shot from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and Grand Ledge takes possession. Tara Kurncz steals the ball and is fouled on a layup. She hits two free throws to boost DeWitt to a 37-25 lead with 1:34 left in the quarter.
Sophia Beland knocks the ball away from Grand Ledge, but the Comets recover. Grand Ledge is forced to call time out to avoid losing the ball for not advancing it over half court in ten seconds. Grand Ledge throws its inbound pass out of bounds. DeWitt misses a three pointer from the side. Sophia Beland (I’m typing her name a lot!) gets the offensive rebound. Tara Kurncz hits a three point shot to give DeWitt a 40-25 lead.
Grand Ledge loses the ball DeWitt throws a pass out of bounds. Sophia Beland steals the ball. (She’s been stealing a lot this quarter; should we inform the authorities??) She ignores the Bleacher Denizen’s foray into criminal justice and passes the ball to Tara Kurncz, who hits a fast break layup for DeWitt. Grand Ledge misses a thirty-five foot shot at the buzzer.
With three quarters in the books, DeWitt has a 42-25 lead.
Grand Ledge inbounds the ball to open the fourth quarter. The Comets miss a twelve foot shot in the lane. Tara Kurncz hits a fast break layup for DeWitt. Madison McDonald steals the ball for the Panthers. DeWitt misses a three point shot from the top of the key. Gianna Naccarato drives and hits a layup for Grand Ledge. Laynie Hanlin steals the ball and passes to Tara Kurncz, who hits a fast break layup to push the Panther lead to 46-27.
Carly Dennis steals the ball for deWitt. Alayna Armstrong gets her hand on the ball and knocks it out of bounds. DeWitt retains possesssion. Laynie Hanlin inbounds the ball to Madi Uyl, who hits a layup for the Panthers. Sophia Beland knocks the ball away from Grand Ledge and Carly Dennis picks it up for DeWitt. DeWitt loses the ball out of bounds on a too fast break. Sophia Beland steals the ball for the Panthers. DeWitt misses a layup. Aviana Skinner passes to Alayna Armstrong, who hits a three point shot to trim the DeWitt lead to 48-30.
Madi Uyl is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws for DeWitt. Kiara Page passes to Alayna Armstrong, who hits an eight foot banked hook shot from the side for the Comets. Madi Uyl passes to Sophia Beland, who hits a layup to give DeWitt a 51-32 lead.
Grand Ledge misses a three point shot from the side. Kiara Page gets the offensive rebound for the Comets. DeWitt steals the ball. Grand Ledge steals it back. The Panthers miss a three pointer from the wing. Sophia Beland is fouled and hits one of her two free throws for DeWitt. With 1:36 remaining, DeWitt has a 52-32 lead.
Sophia Beland (again) steals the ball for DeWitt. Madison McDonald is fouled and hits two free throws for DeWitt. Sophia Beland steals the ball for DeWitt. (I might need to develop a macro to type that sentence; it comes up a lot!) DeWitt runs out the clock.
DeWitt wins the game by the final score of 54-32.
Alayna Armstrong led the Comet scoring with 13 points. Genna Katola contributed 8 points and Aviana Skinner added 6 points. Lexi Raska had 3 points and Gianna Nacarato tallied 2 points.
Tara Kurncz had 24 points to lead the Panther scoring. Madi Uyl joined her teammate in double figures with 10 points. Carly Dennis contributed 7 points and Sophia Beland chipped in with 6 points (as well as numerous steals.) Ryleigh Hanlin scored 3 points. Laynie Hanlin and Madison McDonald each scored 2 points.
DeWitt and Grand Ledge also played a boys’ game. Here is a link to that game.