Bath at Laingsburg – – CMAC Girls Basketball Game of the Week – – The Bleacher Denizen – – January 14, 2025 – – by Chuck Krafft

Today, the Bleacher Denizen will be visiting Bath High School to watch the hometown Fighting Bees take on the Lady Wolfpack from Laingsburg. Laingsburg enters this game with a 5-1 record in the CMAC; the Wolfpack is 5-2 overall. Bath is 4-2 in the CMAC and 5-2 overall.

When I covered Bath’s girls earlier this year, Coach Gabe Sowa gave me the following information.

Aubri Torok is a senior all-conference player who excels at just about everything basketball-related. She is excellent slashing to the basket to score and can also hit the three point shot. She is a ferocious defender who can harass opponents on the perimeter, but is also a factor when she has to defend in the post. This year, she has taken on the point guard responsibilities as well.

Anna Schaibly is a fine three point shooter who defends well on the perimeter. Anna Poppema is a tall perimeter defender who is disruptive on defense and a solid three point shooter on offense. Olivia Brimley scores, rebounds and defends well in the post. Aubrey Dunckel is a versatile defender who is a factor anywhere on the floor. She is also a strong rebounder and a threat from the three point line.

Maci McCrimmon is a tall guard who defends well and can create chaos for opposing offenses. Quinn Chamberlain has a nice three point shot. Jordyn Lira defends and rebounds well in the post. Eva Arambula is a freshman who is an intense defender at the wing position.

Laingsburg Coach Daniel Morrill was sick tonight, but Assistant Coaches Norm Holm and Alex Randall stepped up to provide this information.

Brooklyn Holm may just be a freshman, but she has a skill set that would be the envy of many a senior. She is quick and coordinated enough to defend the perimeter well and also tall and strong enough to pose a barrier in the post. On offense, she is an excellent ball handler and passer. She drives to the basket well and already has an excellent three point shot.

Payge Woodworth runs the point for the Wolfpack. She is a fine ball handler and passer who defends the perimeter well. She is also a threat from the three point line. LilliAnn Morrill is strong player who uses her strength to defend and rebound well in the post. Mallory Woodbury has an excellent basketball IQ, especially on defense. She plays mostly in the post where she defends and rebounds well as she always knows where she needs to be. On offense, she can hit shots from the three point line or slash to the basket.

Harper Strouse is an excellent athlete with long arms; she creates a lot of problems for opposing offenses with her perimeter defense. She has a knack for watching the play develop and anticipating where she needs to go to create a turnover. Kyleigh Luna is a speedy, active, intense perimeter defender.

I arrived at halftime of the JV game. Bath had a 25-8 lead at halftime. The Fighting Bee JVs controlled the game the rest of the way and emerged with a 53-19 win.

Sydney Curtis led the Wolfpack JVs with 6 points. Brooklyn Holm and LilliAnn Morrill took time away from their varsity responsibilities; they each played one quarter and scored 4 points. Lila Esch and Peyton Stahr each tallied 2 points and Allie Brasseur put in 1 point.

Norah Ojerio led the Bee JVs with 10 points. Brooke Kares and Faith Hughes each contributed 9 points. Harper Williams scored 8 points. Macey Pascoe put in 6 points and Sophia Perales chipped in with 5. Karli Hills added 3 points and Courtney Lawhorne scored 2 points.

The Bath Pep Band did an excellent job playing the National Anthem!!

It is now time to learn of the events of this game through the somewhat watchful eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league in the days of yore when he attempted to hoop. He was showing some promise as a fast break scorer until the basketball powers that be ruled that he was no longer allowed to use a rocket propeller to boost his speed on the fast break. When the defenders started beating him down the court, the playing time fell way off! Alas!!!

Laingsburg wins the opening tap. Aubri Torok steals a Wolfpack pass. Bath misses a ten foot shot off the dribble from the side of the lane. Harper Strouse passes to Brooklyn Holm, who throws in a threeball from the top of the key to give Laingsburg its the first three points of the game. Bath misses a three pointer from the side. Olivia Brimley knocks the ball away from Laingsburg and Aubri Torok picks it up for Bath.

Bath misses a threeball from the side. Anna Schaibly pulls down the offensive rebound for the Bees. LilliAnn Morrill steals the ball for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg misses a threeball from the wing. Payge Woodworth snares the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg commits a traveling violation. Aubri Torok passes to Anna Schaibly, who ties the game at 3-3 with a three point basket from the side.

Olivia Brimley knocks the ball away from Laingsburg and causes a tieup. The Possession Arrow looks up from the Afghan it is crocheting and admires Mr. Brimley’s aggressive hustle. The ball is awarded to Bath. Payge Woodworth knocks the ball away from Bath, but Aubrey Dunckel is able to recover the ball for the Bees. Bath misses a six foot shot from the side.

Laingsburg misses a three point shot from the top of the key. The rebound from the missed shot goes out of bounds and Bath gets the ball. Bath throws its inbound pass out of bounds. Laingsburg misses a jump shot from the free throw line. Aubri Torok passes to Anna Schaibly, who hits a three point shot from the side to give her Bees a 6-3 lead.

Laingsburg misses a threeball from the wing. Harper Strouse grabs the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg travels with the ball. (Basketball cliches can be interesting. I doubt I would be mentioning anything if they traveled without the ball, but I digress.) Bath misses a threeball from the top of the key. Aubri Torok defends a Wolfpack pass receiver who misses the ball and it sails out of bounds; Bath gets the ball. Aubri Torok drives and banks in a six foot shot from the side to give Bath an 8-3 lead.

Anna Schaibly intercepts a Laingsburg pass. Mallory Woodbury knocks the ball away from Bath and Brooklyn Holm picks it up for Laingsburg. Brooklyn Holm passes to Kyleigh Lyna, who hits a fast break layup for Laingsburg. Bath throws its inbound pass out of bounds against the Laingsburg press. Laingsburg misses a driving layup. Bath is fouled on a layup, but misses two free throws. With 1:19 to play in the opening quarter, Bath’s lead remains at 8-5.

Laingsburg misses a threeball from the wing. Payge Woodworth pulls down the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg misses a three point shot from the side. Bath misses a driving layup and fouls on the rebound. Laingsburg misses a three point shot from the wing just before the first quarter buzzer decides to call an end to the proceedings.

After one quarter, Bath has an 8-5 lead.

Bath has the ball to open the second quarter. The Bees miss a three point shot from the wing. The rebound goes out of bounds and Laingsburg gets the ball. LilliAnn Morrill is fouled on a driving layup and hits one of her two free throws for Laingsburg. Harper Strouse ties up the ball. The Possession Arrow sees her tough defense as it changes yarn colors and awards the ball to Laingsburg.

The Wolfpack misses a twelve foot shot off the dribble from the side. Harper Strouse knocks the ball away from Bath and Payge Woodworth picks it up for Laingsburg. Harper Strouse passes to Brooklyn Holm, who sinks a threeball from the wing to give the Wolfpack a 9-8 lead.

Mallory Woodbury knocks the ball away from Bath and Brooklyn Holm picks it up for Laingsburg. LilliAnn Morrill hits a layup for Laingsburg. Mallory Woodbury steals the ball for Laingsburg. She drives and hits a six foot shot in the lane for Laingsburg. Bath misses a twelve foot shot from the side of the lane. Laingsburg misses a threeball from the wing. Mallory Woodbury gets the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg misses a driving layup. Anna Poppema is fouled on a driving layup and hits two free throws to shave the Laingsburg lead to 13-10 with 4:32 left in the first half.

Aubrey Dunckel knocks the ball away from Laingsburg and Anna Schaibly picks it up for Bath. The Bees miss a three pointer from the wing. Anna Poppema grabs the offensive rebound for the Bees. Bath misss a three point shot from the top of the key. Aubri Torok steals the ball. Aubri Torok hits a driving layup for the Bees to cut the Laingsburg lead to 13-12.

Laingsburg misses a three point shot from the wing. Bath misses a three point shot from the top of the key. The rebound goes out of bounds and Bath takes possession. Brooklyn Holm drives, pivots and hits a layup for the Wolfpack as she is fouled. She sinks her free throw to give Laingsburg a 16-12 lead with 2:26 remaining in the opening half.

Mallory Woodbury steals the ball for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg misses a threeball from the side. Mallory Woodbury snags the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Jordyn Lira knocks the ball away from Laingsburg and Anna Poppema picks it up for Bath. Bath misses a jump shot from the free throw line, but gets the offensive rebound. Bath misses a threeball near the top of the key. Aubrey Dunckel hits a putback to trim the Wolfpack lead to 16-14.

Anna Schaibly knocks a Laingsburg pass out of bounds; the Wolfpack retains possession. Laingsburg misses a driving layup. Brooklyn Holm steals the ball for the Wolfpack and draws a foul from the Bees as she does it. Laingsburg misses a three point shot from the side as the halftime buzzer announces its presence.

Laingsburg takes a 16-14 lead into the locker room at halftime. I imagine that they will continue to lead 16-14 at the start of the third quarter.

Anna Schiably leads Bath’s scoring at halftime with 6 points and Aubri Torok has 4 points.

Brooklyn Holm leads the Wolfpack at halftime with 9 points.

Bath’s Pep Band entertained at halftime. I liked their version of “Jenny” by Tommy TuTone, but everything they played was great. As I am a professional musician (who writes blogs more than he plays in today’s world), it is always fun to salute a student job well done!!

Bath inbounds the ball to get quarter number three underway. The Bees miss a three point shot from the side. Laingsburg misses a three point shot from the wing. Bath misses a threeball from the top of the key. Anna Poppema gets the offensive rebound for the Bees. Anna Poppema drives and dishes the ball to Aubrey Schaibly, who throws in a threeball from the side for Bath to give her Bees a 17-16 lead.

Laingsburg misses a three point shot from the wing. Harper Strouse gets the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg misses a jump shot. Mallory Woodbury gets the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. laingsburg miseses a layup. The Bees turn the ball over. Aubrey Dunckel blocks a Laingsburg threeball from the wing. Laingsburg recovers, but misses a jump shot and fouls on the rebound.

Aubrey Holm blocks a Bee threeball from the wing; the loose ball goes out of bounds and Bath gets another opportunity. Aubrey Dunckel passes the ball to Olivia Brimley, who is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws to boost the Bath lead to 19-16 with 5:09 to go in the third quarter.

Payge Woodworth passes to Brooklyn Holm, who hits another three point shot from the wing for the Wolfpack to tie the game. Bath loses the ball out of bounds against the Laingsburg press. Laingsburg throws a pass out of bounds. Aubrey Dunckel passes to Aubri Torok, who is fouled as she makes a layup. She misses the free throw. With 4:30 to go in quarter number three, Bath has a 21-19 lead.

Aubri Torok applies pressure and causes Laingsburg to throw a pass out of bounds. Harper Strouse steals the ball for Laingsburg and hits a fast break layup to tie the game. She is fouled on the play, but there is a lane violation as she shoots her free throw and Bath gets the ball. Anna Poppema passes to Olivia Brimley, who hits a layup to give Bath a two point lead. Brooklyn Holm responds with a successful threeball from the corner to give Laingsburg a 24-23 lead.

Aubrey Dunckel passes to Olivia Brimley, who hits a layup for Bath to retake the lead. Aubrey Dunckel blocks a Wolfpack six foot shot from the baseline. Bath loses the ball out of bounds. Laingsburg misses a driving layup. Mallory Woodbury snags the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg misses a layup. Aubri Torok passes to Anna Schaibly, who hits a three pointer from the side to give Bath a 28-24 lead.

Payge Woodworth passes to Savvy Stirm, who hits a three pointer from the side to cut the Bath lead to one point. Mallory Woodbury steals the ball and passes to Payge Woodworth, who hits a fast break layup to give Laingsburg a 29-28 lead.

Bath misses a layup. The rebound is tied up. The Possession Arrow is distracted by the need to respond, drops a stitch and has to redo an entire row of the Afghan it is working on. It hurriedly awards the ball to the Wolfpack. Payge Woodworth passes to Kyleigh Luna, who hits a three pointer form the side to give her Wolfpack a 32-28 lead.

Kyleigh Luna nearly steals the ball for Laingsburg, but Bath recovers. The Bees miss a three point shot from the side. Aubrey Dunckel knocks the ball away from the Wolfpack, but they recover. Laingsburg misses a ten foot banked shot from the side as the third quarter buzzer puts a temporary end to things.

With three quarters in the books, Laingsburg has a 32-28 lead.

Bath tosses the ball inbounds to start out the fourth quarter. Anna Poppema passes to Anna Schaibly, who nails a threeball from the side to chop the Laingsburg lead back to one point. Brooklyn Holm responds and hits a ten foot shot from the side for the Wolfpack. Aubri Torok passes to Anna Schaibly, who hits a three pointer from the side for Bath to tie the game at 34-34.

Eva Arambula steals the ball for the Bees. Bath misses a three pointer from the side. Aubri Torok pulls down the offensive rebound for the Bees. Bath misses a three pointer from the side. Laingsburg reciprocates and misses a three pointer from the side. Brooklyn Holm knocks the ball away from Bath, but the Fighting Bees recover. Payge Woodworth knocks the ball away from Bath, but the Bees are again able to recover.

Bath misses a jump shot from the free throw line. Brooklyn Holm passes to Mallory Woodbury, who hits a layup to give Laingsburg a two point lead. Bath misses a driving layup; the rebound goes out of bounds and the Bees get another opportunity. Anna Poppema passes to Aubri Torok, who hits a three point shot from the wing to give Bath a 37-36 lead.

Mallory Woodbury hits a layup for the Wolfpack to retake the lead. Bath misses a driving layup. Laingsburg reciprocates and misses a driving layup. Bath misses an eight hook hook shot in the lane. Laingsburg misses a layup. Anna Poppema passes to Olivia Brimley, who hits a hook/layup to give Bath a 39-38 lead.

Laingsburg misses a twelve foot shot in the lane. Brooklyn Holm steals the ball for the Wolfpack. Aubrey Dunckel plays tough defense and forces a Wolfpack pass receiver to travel. Bath misses a three pointer from the side. Laingsburg misses a triple try near the top of the key. Mallory Woodbury gets the offensive rebound for the Wolfpack. Laingsburg misses a layup.

Laingsburg commits its fourth foul of the quarter with 24.7 seconds left on the game clock and commits its fifth foul of the quarter with 10.1 seconds to go to force Bath to shoot free throws. Anna Poppema hits one of her two free throws to give the Bees a 40-38 lead.

Bath commits its first foul of the fourth quarter with 5.8 seconds left to make offense more difficult for Laingsburg. (The foul was not on the shot, so there are no free throws.) Laingsburg inbounds the ball. Brooklyn Holm passes to Mallory Woodbury, who hits a layup for Laingsburg to tie the game as the final buzzer blares.

The game is tied at 40-40 and we will have OVERTIME in Bath!!

While “Overtime in Bath” could lead to dry, itchy skin for your aging Bleacher Denizen, I’m sure it will be exciting for all the players, coaches and fans in the gym!! As Paul Harvey would say (admittedly generally meaning something else), “Here is the rest of the story!”

Laingsburg wins the overtime opening tap. The Wolfpack misses a driving layup. Harper Strouse steals the ball and passes to LilliaAnn Morrill, who hits a fast break layup and is fouled. She makes her free throw to give her Wolfpack a 43-40 lead with 3:33 to play in overtime.

Bath misses a three pointer near the top of the key; the rebound goes out of bounds and Laingsburg takes possession. Laingsburg misses a six foot shot from the side of the lane. Aubri Torok passes to Olivia Brimley, who hits a layup to pull Bath to within one point. Harper Strouse passes to Brooklyn Holm, who hits a layup for the Wolfpack and is fouled. She sinks her free throw to give Laingsburg a 46-42 lead with 2:09 left on the overtime clock.

Aubri Torok drives and hits a layup to trim the Wolfpack lead to two points. Payge Woodworth is fouled and hits one of her two free throws for Laingsburg. Aubri Torok is fouled and hits two free throws to pull Bath to within one point. Brooklyn Holm passes to a Wolfpack teammate who is fouled on a layup, but misses both her free throws. With 1:14 to go in overtime, the Wolfpack leads by one point at 47-46.

Bath misses a three point shot form the wing. With 46.8 seconds left, Brooklyn Holm hits two free throws for Laingsburg. Kyleigh Luna defends a Bath dribbler tightly and she loses the ball out of bounds; Laingsburg gets the ball. Payge Woodworth is fouled and hits two free throws to boost Laingsburg to a 51-46 lead with 31.9 seconds to play.

Aubri Torok is fouled and hits two free throws for Bath with 25.0 seconds left. Payge Woodworth is fouled and hits two free throws to give Laingsburg a 53-48 lead with 13.0 seconds remaining.

Bath misses a long three pointer from the wing with a couple seconds left and Laingsburg dribbles out the clock.

Laingsburg wins this overtime thriller by the final score of 53-48.

Anna Schaibly had 18 points to lead the Bath scoring. Aubri Torok contributed 15 points. Olivia Brimley joined her teammates in double figures with 10 points. Anna Poppema scored 3 points and Aubrey Dunckel had 2 points.

Brooklyn Holm had 22 points to lead the Wolfpack. Payge Woodworth contributed 7 points that included five important free throws in overtime. LilliAnn Morrill and Mallory Woodbury each scored 6 points. Kyleigh Luna put in 5 points. Harper Strouse added 4 points. Savvy Stirm hit a three point shot and scored 3 points.