Pewamo-Westphalia at Dansville – – Girls CMAC Co-Game of the Week – – February 9, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft

Tonight, your Bleacher Denizen is off to the Big Barn at the DAC in Dansville where the Aggies will host the Pirates of Pewamo-Westphalia in a matchup between two of the top five teams in the Central Michigan Athletic Conference. Dansville has a 10-2 record in the CMAC and is 12-3 overall. Pewamo-Westphalia is 7-5 in the CMAC and 8-7 overall.

While we wait for the game to start, I hope you will enjoy this piano rendition of “Rose of San Antone” which was inspired by my hearing one of my piano heroes, Floyd Cramer, do an instrumental version of this song! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAyGsC_FuNo

I’ve seen the P-W girls a couple times this year now. This is some information that Pirate Coach Steve Eklund has provided about his players. Elly Bengel is a fine three point shooter who can also slash to the basket to score. Brynn Bauer is an athletic point guard who plays great defense, handles the ball well, breaks opposing presses and can slash to the basket to score.

Kambrie Thelen is a glue player who sets screens, keeps the ball moving and defends the perimeter well. Alonna Thelen defends the wing well and is a solid rebounder. Logan Drake defends well in the middle. She is a good rebounder who can score near the basket.

Aggie Coach Chris Mack helped me with this information about his Aggie players during a previous game.
Megan Zeitz is a senior in her fourth year of starting on the varsity and is a returning all-State player. She excels on defense as she is tall and really quick. She can overwhelm almost any opponent and is a threat to steal the ball from anyone at any time. She is also a strong offensive player with the ball handling and passing skills to run the point as well as the ability to use her handle and height to score in the lane. She is also a good three point shooter.

Izzy Joseph brings an accurate three point shot to the Aggies. She is also a solid ball handler. Anna McDaniel is an experienced guard who handles the ball well. Reeghan Griffith is a strong rebounder who can also hit the outside shot. Alaina Broyes is a post player who is returning from a knee injury. She defends in the post; she is also capable of hitting outside shots. Ryker Graf is a freshman center who plays strong in the post where she is a solid scoring and rebounder.

It is now time to review the events of this game through the somewhat open eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he tried to play basketball in the olden days. His careening bricks destroyed too many of the old peach baskets we shot at in the days when the game was just invented. It was just too expensive to allow him to play in the games.

Dansville wins the opening tap. Elly Bengel knocks an Aggie pass out of bounds; Dansville retains possession. Kambrie Thelen steals the ball for the Pirates. Ryker Graf steals the ball for the Aggies. Dansville misses an eight foot shot from the side. P-W misses a threeball from the corner. Kambrie Thelen pulls down the offensive rebound for the Pirates. Megan Zeitz blocks a Pirate layup. The loose ball goes out of bounds and the Pirates get another opportunity. Logan Drake hits a layup to give P-W a 2-0 lead.

Kambrie Thelen steals an Aggie pass. P-W misfires on a triple try from the corner. Brenna Thelen gets the offensive rebound for the Pirates. Dansville blocks a Pirate layup. The Aggies miss a driving layup. Brenna Thelen passes to a teammate who is fouled on a layup, but misses her free throws. With 4:35 to play in the opening quarter, the P-W lead remains at 2-0.

Izzy Joseph drive and dishes the ball to a teammate who is fouled on a layup, but misses two free throws. P-W misses a three point shot from the wing. Elly Bengel grabs the offensive rebound for the Pirates. Megan Zeitz steals the ball for the Aggies. Dansville misfires on a threeball from the wing. P-W fumbles a pass out of bounds. Dansville misses a layup. Megan Zeitz gets her hand on the ball and it goes out of bounds; the Pirates retain possession.

P-W misses a three pointer from the side. Alonna Thelen knocks Dansville’s inbound pass out of bounds; the Aggies retain possession. Dansville misfires on a triple try from the top of the key. Megan Zeitz steals the ball and draws a foul from P-W. Elyse Thelen steals the ball for the Pirates. P-W misses a layup. Elyse Thelen is fouled on a putback and hits one of her two free throws. With 1:21 to play in the opening quarter, P-W has a 3-0 lead.

Logan Drake pulls down the offensive rebound from the missed free throw. Grace Davis steals the ball for the Aggies. Megan Zeitz hits a three point shot for Dansville to tie the game at 3-3.

P-W misses a ten foot shot off the dribble frfom the side. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow was napping as it was being evaluated for Sleep Apnea and took a few seconds to decide to award the ball to P-W. The Pirates miss a three pointer from the corner. Logan Drake gets the offensive rebound for the Pirates. P-W misses a three point shot from the corner. Dansville misses a three pointer from the side. P-W misses a three point shot from the wing as the first quarter buzzer makes its presence known.

After one inning, the score is tied at 3-3. (Oops!! They are playing “basketball” even if the score looks like it came from a softball game!)

Dansville inbounds the ball to start the second quarter. An Aggie pass into the lane is too high and sails out of bounds; P-W gets the ball. P-W misses a ten foot shot off the dribble from the baseline and fouls on the rebound. Logan Drake hits the floor to steal the ball for the Pirates. Reeghan Griffeth knocks the ball away from P-W and Izzy Joseph picks it up for Dansville. Anna McDaniel passes to Megan Zeitz, who is fouled on a layup. Megan Zeitz hits one of her two free throws to give Dansville a 4-3 lead with 6:31 remaining in the first half.

Anna McDaniel blocks a Pirate layup; the loose ball goes out of bounds and P-W gets the ball back. The Pirates misfire on a threeball from the corner. Elly Bengel gets the offensive rebound for P-W. P-W misses a three point attempt from the side. Alonna Thelen gets the offensive rebound for the Pirates. P-W misses a layup. The Bleacher Denizen is starting to miss seeing the ball go into the basket. Izzy Joseph drive across the lane and hits an eight foot banked hook to boost the Aggie lead to 6-3.

Brynn Bauer drives and dishes the ball to Logan Drake, who hits a layup for P-W. Emerie Smith knocks the ball out of bounds; Dansville retains possession. Dansville misses a ten foot shot in the lane. Ryker Graf steals the ball for the Aggies. Brynn Bauer hits the floor to tie up the ball. The Possession Arrow and the doctor conducting the Sleep Apnea test missed the play, but flip a coin. The ball is awarded to Pewamo-Westphalia.

P-W misses a three point shot from the side. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow and the others in the room being tested for sleep apnea stop snoring long enough to give the ball to Dansville. The Aggies miss a three pointer from the wing. Dansville misses a layup. P-W misses a threeball from the corner. Elly Bengel grabs the offensive rebound for the Pirates. P-W is fouled on a driving eight footer from the baseline, but misses two free throws. With 1:51 to play in the half, the Dansville lead remains at 6-5.

Brenna Thelen knocks the ball away from Dansville, but the Aggies are able to recover. Dansville misses a threeball from the wing. Ryker Graf gets the offensive rebound for the Aggies. Dansville misses a layup. Megan Zeitz gets her hand on the ball and P-W loses it out of bounds; Dansville gets the ball. Dansville misses a twelve foot shot in the lane. P-W misses a half court heave.

Believe it or not, the halftime score is Dansville 6 Pewamo-Westphalia 5. I have never seen anything quite like this half of basketball. Wow.

Logan Drake has 4 points to lead Pewamo-Westphalia’s scoring at halftime.

Megan Zeitz has 4 points for Dansville.

While we wait for the third quarter to begin, I hope you will enjoy these videos from my You Tube Channel!

Here is “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”, a ragtime tune with a bit of comedy inserted in the middle and near the end!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUieaBvS38w

Somehow, with the slow, sleepy pace of this game, this original tune, “It’s Peaceful Here” seems appropriate! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=147XD8IvqA4

Pewamo-Westphalia inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. Megan Zeitz knocks the ball out of bounds; P-W retains possession. Ryker Graf hits the floor and causes P-W to lose the ball out of bounds; Dansville takes possession. Dansville commits a traveling violation. P-W is fouled on a layup, but misses two free throws. With 5:41 to play in the third quarter, Dansville continues to hold a 6-5 lead.

Brenna Thelen gets the offensive rebound for the Pirates. P-W misses a layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and Dansville gets the ball. Brenna Thelen knocks the ball away from Dansville, but the Aggies are able to recover. A Dansville dribbler steps on the sideline against the P-W press. Elly Bengel passes to Kambrie Thelen, who hits a three point shot from the side to give P-W an 8-6 lead.

Dansville misses a layup. Brynn Bauer passes to Elly Bengel, who throws in a three point shot from the wing for P-W. Brynn Bauer steals the Dansville inbound pass. Anna McDaniel steals the ball for Dansville. Elly Bengel steals the ball and hits a fast break layup for Dansville. Megan Zeitz drives and hits an eight foot shot in the lane for Dansville. She is fouled on the play and makes her free throw to trim the Pirate lead to 13-9 with 1:33 left in quarter number three.

P-W misfires on a threeball from the corner. Dansville misses a twelve foot shot off the dribble from the side of the lane. Emerie Smith drives from the side and scoops in a twelve foot shot as the third quarter buzzer signals that the period is over.

After three quarters, Pewamo-Westphalia has a 15-9 lead.

Dansville has the ball to begin the fourth quarter. The Aggies miss a layup. Alaina Broyles is fouled on a putback and hits two free throws to cut the P-W lead to 15-11 with 7:37 to play in the fourth quarter.

Elly Bengel reacts quickly to prevent a loose ball from becoming a P-W turnover. Megan Zeitz steals the ball and hits a fast break layup to chop the P-W lead to 15-13.

Elly Bengel passes to Brenna Thelen, who hits a three pointer from the corner for P-W. Dansville throws a pass out of bounds. Megan Zeitz blocks a P-W reverse layup. The ball goes out of bounds and Dansville takes possession. Dansville misses a threee point shot from the side. Brynn Bauer passes to Brenna Thelen, who hits a layup for the Pirates. Leah Miller knocks the ball away from Dansville; Elly Bengel picks up the ball, and goes in for a fast break layup that gives P-W a 22-13 lead.

Leah Miller hits the floor to tie up the ball for P-W. The Possession Arrow and the doctor prescribing its sleep apnea treatment are both quite impresseed with her hustle and award the ball to Pewamo-Westphalia. A P-W dribbler loses the ball out of bounds. Dansville misses a three point shot from the wing. Izzy Joesph gets the offensive rebound and passes to Anna McDaniel, who hits a three point shot from the side for Dansville. Elly Bengel passes to Alonna Thelen, who hits a layup to give P-W a 24-16 lead.

Brynn Bauer steals the ball for the Pirates. P-W misses a driving layup. Megan Zeitz passes to Ryker Graf, who hits a layup for Dansville; she is fouled on the play, but misses her free throw. With 2:58 left on the clock, Pewamo-Westphalia holds a 24-18 lead.

Megan Zeitz and Reeghan Griffeth double team P-W and force a tieup. The Possession Arrow and the nurse showing the arrow how to use the CPAP machine (to help with the sleep apnea) agree that the defense was impressive and decide that Dansville will have the ball. The Aggies miss a three point shot from the corner. Anna McDaniel steals the ball for the Aggies. Dansville misses a sixteen foot shot from the side. P-W fouls on the rebound.

Brenna Thelen gets her hand on the ball and Dansville loses it out of bounds. Anna McDaniel steals the ball for the Aggies. Dansville is fouled, but misses two free throws. With 54.5 left in the game, P-W has a 24-18 lead.

There is a scrum for the rebound and the ball is tied up. The Possession Arrow and its roommate in the sleep research center agree that the ball should go to Pewamo-Westphalia. Dansville quickly commits its third, fourth and fifth fouls of the quarter to force Pewamo-Westphalia to shoot free throws. Emerie Smith foils this strategy by hitting two free throws to boost the P-W lead to 26-18 with 47.1 seconds to go.

Dansville misses a three point shot from the wing. Reeghan Griffeth makes an amazing play to keep the rebound from going out of bounds and then taps the ball to Ryker Graf. Kambrie Thelen steals the ball for P-W and is fouled. She hits one of her two free throws to give P-W a 27-18 lead with 25.8 seconds left in the game.

Izzy Joseph drives and hits a layup for Dansville. Alonne Thelen is fouled and hits one of her two free throws for P-W with just 12.5 seconds to go. Logan Drake blocks a Dansville layup; the loose ball goes out of bounds and P-W takes possession with 4.8 seconds left. P-W dribbles out the clock.

Pewamo-Westphalia wins this CMAC road game by the score of 28-20.

Megan Zeitz led the Dansville scoring with 9 points. Izzy Joseph added 4 points. Anna McDaniel had 3 points. Alaina Broyles and Ryker Graf each tallied 2 points.

Elly Bengal led the Pewamo-Westphalia scoring with 7 points. Brenna Thelen put in 5 points. Kambrie Thelen, Logan Drake and Emerie Smith each scored 4 points. Alonna Thelen notched 3 points. Elyse Thelen tallied 1 point.