Stratford 48 vs. Spring 29

JV Girls had another home game on Tuesday as the Spartans welcomed the Spring Lions. Early it appeared the Lions would make themselves right at home. It took the Spartans a minute to wake up, but they turned that lion roar into a gentle purr by the end of the evening.

Spring came out firing, playing fast, and disrupting Stratford. They jumped out to an early 8-1 lead and got a few favorable calls early. Only a Brooke Sponsel free throw got the girls on the board. That all stopped when the Spartans got back to what makes them great, which is overwhelming defense. Zoe Thompson and Claire Kadane led the way up front with multiple steals. Claire turned one into a bucket, and Zoe got two driving lay-ups. Zoe added a free throw and a beauty of a step-back three. Stella Weiss, Aniyah Cunningham, and Brooke started to clean up the boards and stop the Lion momentum. At the end of one, Spartans were up 11-10.

In the second quarter, the defense stayed nasty only giving up three for the frame. The girls moved the ball around as well as they have all year. This is an unselfish bunch, and when they start passing good things happen. Claire, who seems to be wherever the ball is, scored again, and she and Aniyah continued to create general discomfort for whatever Spring wanted to do. Stella, who usually fills up the scoring sheet, took a more defensive roll grabbing boards and had two blocks on the night. Brooke scored again working hard in traffic in the post. One of the highlights of the quarter was Abigail Williams dropping a pass in the lane to Zoe for a textbook basket. Abigail also added a free throw. Zoe stayed hot, getting to the line multiple times after being clobbered by Spring, who was starting to show some frustration. She connected on three free throws and another layup. Halftime score - Spartans up 21 to 13.

Again, the third quarter is closing time for this team. They held the Lions to four points and pulled away. Allie Moss and Resse Oppermann decided to join the defensive party and got involved with the others to add to the Lion misery. Allie also hit a lay-up, and Resse knocked down two free throws. Aniyah dropped a high-arching three-pointer as well. Claire added two more baskets, along with Zoe getting to the line for two more free throws on her way to a game-high 15 points. Then Brooke, our center, took off after a steal going coast-to-coast for a layup. The quarter ended 38-17, Spartans.

Spring, to their credit, continued to fight, and made a little run. Madison Williams and Elyse Johnson came in and did a nice job of slowing things down. Elyse added a quick basket, and Brooke got one more as well. Allie caused a steal and took her turn going coast-to-coast for a layup. Allie was able to add one more from the charity stripe as well. Claire knocked one down and added a free throw. The Spartans sent the Lions home hungry. Spartans 48 - Spring 29