Perry at Lansing Christian – – CMAC Girls Co-Game of the Week – – The Bleacher Denizen – – February 23, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft

Tonight, we will be heading to Lansing Christian for the CMAC Girls Co-Game of the Week. (Your indecisive Bleacher Denizen could not decide whether to name this game or Wednesday’s game between Laingsburg and Bath as the official game.) Sometimes, the weighty responsibilities of being a Bleacher Denizen can get past me.

The Pilgrims from Lansing Christian have a 5-11 record in the league and are 9-11 overall. The Ramblers from Perry are 2-14 in the CMAC and 5-15 overall.

While we wait for the game to start, I hope you will enjoy my rendition of “Amazing Grace” from my You Tube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blOrsQkhhf0

For Perry, Abigail Cochrane is an perimeter defender and a versatile scorer who can slash to the basket or shoot from the three point line. She is also a dependable free throw shooter. Addyson Lampron has a fine basketball IQ. She is able to run the point where she is a formidable perimeter defender who passes and handles the ball well. She can also score on slashes to the basket. Zenna Leitelt is a solid scorer, rebounder and defender in the post.

Celina McFarland is a tough perimeter defender who reads defenses well and is good at moving without the ball. Hannah Brodberg is a good leader who defends and rebounds really well in the post. Neela Willson is a fine perimeter defender and three point shooter. Ruby Simon is a strong perimeter defender and ball handler who is a threat to score from the three point line or slash to the basket. Hazel Stone and Paige Davis give the Ramblers defensive and rebounding depth in the post.

Lydia Brogan is a strong all-around player for the Pilgrims. She rebounds really well and is a formidable defender whether on the perimeter or in the post. She is a fine ball handler who slashes to the basket well and can hit the three point shot. Ava Mustapha plays tough defense on the perimeter and is excellent slashing to the basket to score. Sophie Hazelton defends and rebounds well in the post; she is also a good three point shooter.

Alyssa Shank runs the point for the Pilgrims. She is a fine perimeter defender who handles the ball and passes well. Sophia Carrillo is a fine defensive presence and passer in the post. Maddie Crawford is a fine three point shooter who also defends well on the perimeter.

I was able to see most of the second half of the JV game. The game was close in the first half as Christian had a 16-11 lead going into halftime. In the second half, the Christian JVs controlled the game and came out with a 33-15 win.

Emma Winans and Hannah Kelly led the Perry JVs with 4 points each. Isabella Hamel put in 3 points. Ava Positano and Rylee Price each tallied 2 points.

Kylie Damesworth led the Lansing Christian JVs with 10 points. Lael Ritter supported her teammate with 8 points. Natalie Adams and Juliette Tallon each tossed in 5 points. Esther Lee added 3 points. Ariana Erickson scored 2 points.

Tonight, Lansing Christian student Andrew Macalincag played the national anthem on the electric guitar before the game. He had a nice arrangement of the song and executed it really well. As a person who has around 1500 paid music jobs in his background (as well as just about as many volunteer performances), I was really impressed. Great job!!!

It is now time to report the events of this game through the occasionally alert eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league when he attempted to hoop in ancient times. It simply took him way to long to learn that a good player shoots only at his own basket. (This was disappointing as opponents seldom played much defense when I shot at “their” basket. It was MUCH easier.) Alas, while the Bleacher Denizen enjoyed the frequent rousing cheers of the opposing fans, your Bleacher Denizen’s coach cut his playing time severely!!

Perry wins the opening tap. The Ramblers miss an eight foot shot off the dribble from the baseline. The rebound goes out of bounds and Perry gets another opportunity. Abigail Cochrane drives and hits a layup to give Perry the first two points of the game. Christian misses a driving hook/layup. The rebound goes out of bounds and Christian gets the ball back. Christian misses a driving reverse layup. Perry missers an eight foot shot in the lane.

Ruby Simon gets her hand on the ball and a Christian dribbler loses it out of bounds. Perry misses a layup. Christian loses a pass out of bounds. Perry misfires on a threeball from the wing. Hannah Brodberg gets the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Christian misses a six foot banked shot from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and Perry takes possession. The Ramblers commit an offensive foul.

Christian fumbles a pass out of bounds. Perry misses a twelve foot shot in the lane. Hannah Brodberg grabs the offensive rebound for Perry. Perry misses a sixteen foot shot from the wing. Sophia Carrillo passes to a teammate who is fouled on a layup for Christian, but misses both of her free throws. Sophia Carrillo rebounds the missed free throw for the Pilgrims. Lydia Brogan is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws to trim the Perry lead to 2-1 with 3:29 left in the first quarter.

Ruby Simon drives and hits a layup for Perry. Ava Mustapha drives and hits a layup for Christian. Perry misses a layup. Hannah Brodberg pulls down the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Perry misses a fifteen foot shot from the wing. Christian is fouled on a fast break layup, but misses two free throws. Perry misses a twelve foot shot from the side. Alyssa Shank is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws to tie the game at 4-4 with 2:23 to play in the first quarter.

Lydia Brogan ties up the ball. The Possession Arrow consults its Magic 8 Ball and awards the ball to Christian. Christian sets an illegal screen and is called for an offensive foul. Ruby Simon drives and hits a layup to give Perry a two point lead. Christian misses a three point shot from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Christian gets the ball back. Ava Mustapha drives and hits an up and under eight foot shot in the lane for the Pilgrims to tie the game at 6-6.

Abigail Cochrane hits an eight foot shot off the dribble in the lane for the Ramblers. Sophie Hazelton passes to Lydia Brogan, who hits a shot for the Pilgrims. Abigail Cochrane throws in a threeball from the wing to give Perry an 11-8 lead.

Christian misses a shot off the dribble from the free throw elbow with less than a second left. The rebound goes out of bounds; all Perry has time to do is inbound the ball before the first quarter buzzer alerts everyone that it is here!

After one quarter, Perry has an 11-8 lead.

Perry has the ball to open the second quarter. The Ramblers pass the ball out of bounds. Lydia Brogan drives and hits a layup for Christian. She is fouled on the play and hits her free throw to tie the game at 11-11 with 7:27 remaining in the first half.

Sophie Hazelton steals the ball for the Pilgrims. Christian misses a three pointer from the wing. Perry misses a fifteen foot shot from the side. Ruby Simon knocks the ball away from Christian and Hazel Stone picks it up for Perry. Perry misses a driving eight foot banked shot and fouls on the rebound. Christian misses a three pointer from the side. Ava Mustapha gets the offensive rebound for the Pilgrims. Sophie Hazelton passes to Lydia Brogan, who throws in a threeball from the corner for the Pilgrims to give her team a 14-11 lead.

Perry misses a three point shot from the wing. Celina McFarland gets the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Abigail Cochrane passes to Neela Willson, who hits a three point shot from the side for Perry to tie the game. Christian misses a fourteen foot shot from the side. The rebound goes out of bounds and Perry takes possession. The Ramblers miss a jump shot from the free throw elbow.

Celina McFarland gets her hand on the ball, but Christian is able to recover. Abigail Cochrane hits a twelve foot shot off the dribble from the side for Perry. Sophie Hazelton banks in a threeball from the wing for Christian. Perry misses a three point shot from the corner. Ava Mustapha passes to Esther Lee, who hits a layup for the Pilgrims and is fouled. She misses her free throw. Perry misses a three pointer from the side. Lydia Brogan is fouled and hits one of her two free throws for Christian. With 3:09 left in the half, Christian’s lead is at 20-16.

Esther Lee rebounds the missed free throw for Christian. Christian misses a layup. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow contacts its Finance Committee; they vote to award the ball to Christian. The Pilgrims travel with the ball. (Sports cliches can be interesting; I’m not sure how newsworthy traveling without the ball would be.) Abigail Cochrane passes to Hannah Brodberg, who quickly relays the ball to Addyson Lampron, who makes a three point shot from the side to cut the Christian lead to 20-19.

Christian misses a three point shot from the wing. Perry misses an eight foot shot off the dribble from the baseline. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow was in the middle of its meeting with its Cleanup Committee; in the process of deciding how to hang the toilet paper, they missed the play; the ball is awarded to Perry. Abigail Cochrane catches an inbound pass at the top of the key and sinks a three point shot to give Perry a 22-20 lead.

Abigail Cochrane steals the ball for Perry. Lydia Brogan knocks the ball away to foil a Rambler fast break. Perry gets the ball back. The Ramblers miss a three point shot from the wing. Hannah Brodberg hits a putback to boost Perry to a 24-20 lead.

Abigail Cochrane steals the ball for the Ramblers. Perry misses a ten foot shot from the baseline. Sophia Carrillo is fouled on the rebound; she misses her first free throw, but makes her second. Unfortunately, the Pilgrims are called for a lane violation and the free throw is waved off. Abigail Cochrane passes to Celina McFarland, who hits a layup for the Ramblers. Christian misses a layup as the halftime buzzer lets us know that it is time to run to the concession stand!

At halftime, Perry has a 26-20 lead.

Lydia Brogan has 10 points and Ava Mustapha 4 points to lead the Lansing Christian scoring.

Abigail Cochrane has 12 points for Perry and Ruby Simon has 4 points.

As there is no halftime entertainment, I hope you will enjoy a couple videos from my You Tube Channel.

Here is a solo piano version of the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3482fQh0Rdo

For the millions of you who are anxious to hear The Bleacher Denizen yodel, (OK, the “millions” just may be a stretch.) here is “Cattle Call” a popular Western standard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlPaiHsbOnA

Christian inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. Ruby Simon steals the ball for the Ramblers. Perry misses a fast break layup. Hannah Brodberg bocks a Christian layup; Christian recovers the loose ball. Lydia Brogan hits a ten foot shot from the side for the Pilgrims. Perry misses a layup. Ruby Simon steals the ball for Perry. The Ramblers miss a six foot banked shot; the rebound goes out of bounds and Christian takes possession. Sophia Carrillo passes to Ava Mustapha, who hits a layup to trim the Perry lead to 26-24.

Perry misses a layup. Christian misses a threeball from the side. Esther Lee gets the offensive rebound for the Pilgrims. Christian is fouled on a layup, but misses two free throws. Perry misses a jump shot. Christian throws an outlet pass too far and a too fast break is foiled. Zenna Leitelt is fouled on a layup for Perry. She hits one of her two free throws to push Perry to a 27-24 lead with 4:03 to play in quarter number three.

Christian fumbles a pss out of bounds. Sophia Hazelton steals a Perry pass in the lane. Neela Willson steals the ball for the Ramblers; she passes to Celina McFarland, who hits a jump shot from the free throw elbow to give her Ramblers a 29-24 lead.

Christian misfires on a triple try from the side. The Pilgrims get the ball back. (Sometimes the game gets a bit fast for your Aging Bleacher Denizen and I’m not sure what happened here.) Christian misses a jump shot from the free throw elbow. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow checks out surveillance videos from twelve angles and awards the ball to Perry.

The Ramblers miss a twelve foot shot from the side. Christian misses a layup. Sophia Carrillo gets the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Ruby Simon steals the ball for Perry. Perry is fouled on a fast break layup, but miss two free throws. With 2:15 to play in quarter number three, the Ramblers have a 29-24 lead.

Celina McFarland gets the offensive rebound for the Ramblers. Perry misses a layup. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow consults with its legal team and issues a writ giving the ball to Christian. Christian misses a threeball from the wing. Maddie Crawford gets her hand on a pass and knocks the ball out of bounds; Perry retains possession.

Ava Mustapha steals a Perry pass into the lane. Christian misses a three pointer from the side. Perry misses a three pointer from the wing. Sophia Carrillo passes to Alyssa Shank, who hits a layup for the Pilgrims. She is fouled on the play, but misses her free throw. With 22.1 seconds to play in the third quarter, Perry has a 29-26 lead.

Ava Mustapha steals the ball for the Pilgrims and passes to Lydia Brogan, who is fouled as she shoots a layup. Lydia Brogan hits one of her two free throws for the Pilgrims. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow and its culinary staff award the ball as well as a plate of gourmet brownies to Perry. Celina McFarland passes to Ruby Simon, who banks in an eight foot shot from the side for Perry with 3.3 seconds to go. Christian does not have time to shoot.

With three quarters in the books, Perry holds a 31-27 lead.

Christian has the ball to commence the fourth quarter. Zenna Leitelt steals the ball for Perry. The Ramblers miss a layup. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow meets with its Manufacturing Team and delivers the ball to Perry.

Maddie Crawford gets her hand on the ball and forces a tieup. The Possession Arrow and its Financial Committee find room in the budget to award the ball to Christian. The Pilgrims miss a three point shot near the top of the key. Ruby Simon inbounds the ball to a teammate who is fouled on a layup, but misses her free throws. With 6:40 left on the clock, Perry has a 31-27 lead.

Neela Willson and Celina McFarland clamp a ferocious double team on Christian and force a traveling violation. Perry reciprocates with a traveling violation. Ava Mustapha passes to Maddie Crawford, who hits a layup for the Pilgrims. Addyson Lampron passes to Neela Willson, who tosses in a threeball from the corner to boost Perry to a 34-29 lead.

Zenna Leitelt steals a Christian bounce pass. Sophia Carrillo harasses Perry’s inbounder into turning the ball over. Lydia Brogan passes to Sophie Hazelton, who drains a three point shot from the corner for Christian to shave the Rambler lead to 34-32.

Sophia Carrillo gets her hand on Perry’s inbound pass and knocks it out of bounds; the Ramblers retain possession. Perry misses a layup. Christian misses a six footer from the side of the lane. Perry commits an offensive foul. Christian misses a three point shot from the wing. Perry is assessed with a traveling violation. Christian misses a three point shot form the wing. The Pilgrims get the offensive rebound, but miss a layup.

Lydia Brogan gets the offensive rebound for the Pilgrims. Christian misses a layup. Lydia Brogan steals the ball for Christian. She gets into the lane and hits a fiercely defended six foot shot in the lane for Christian to tie the game. Perry misses a jump shot from the free throw line. Lydia Brogan steals a pass and hits a left-handed fast break layup to give the Pilgrims a 36-34 lead.

A Perry traveling violation negates a layup that would have tied the game. Abigail Cochrane steals the ball for the Ramblers. Ava Mustapha steals the ball for Christian. She is fouled on a fast break layup and hits two free throws to boost Christian to a 38-34 lead with 1:33 left on the clock.

Sophie Hazelton gets her hand on the ball and Perry loses it out of bounds. Christian misses a three point shot from the wing. Sophia Carrillo gets the offensive rebound for the Pilgrims. Lydia Brogan is fouled and hits one of her two free throws for Christian with just 46.5 seconds to go to give the Pilgrims a 39-34 lead.

Ava Mustapha gets her hand on the ball and Perry loses it out of bounds. Lydia Brogan throws a touchdown pass over the Perry press and Ava Mustapha hits a layup for Christian. Neela Willson is fouled on a triple try from the side and hits two of three free throws for Perry. With 26.1 seconds left, Christian’s lead is at 41-36.

Christian bounces its inbound pass out of bounds. Alyssa Shank forces a Perry traveling violation. Lydia Brogan is fouled and hits two free throws for Christian. Perry misses a three point attempt from the wing. The rebound is tied up with just 1.3 seconds to go. The Possession Arrow decides to give Christian the ball. Christian runs out the final seconds of the clock.

Lansing Christian wins this CMAC league contest by the final score of 43-36.

Abigail Cochrane had 12 points to lead the Perry scoring. Neela Willson supported her teammate with 8 points. Ruby Simon contributed 6 points. Celina McFarland scored 4 points. Addyson Lampron put in 3 points. Hannah Brodberg added 2 points. Zenna Leitelt tallied 1 point.

Lydia Brogan led Lansing Christian’s scoring with 20 points. Ava Mustapha joined her teammate in double figures with 10 points. Sophie Hazelton chipped in with 6 points. Alyssa Shank added 3 points. Maddie Crawford and Esther Lee each notched 2 points.