The Martin girls’ varsity basketball squad Friday night clinched the Southwest Athletic Conference championship in the Central Division by registering a 52-46 triumph over visiting Galesburg-Augusta.
The Clipper ladies had to overcome a slow start, trailing 15-12 and 27-21 after the first two period stops. The surged ahead in the third, 36-32, and then finished the job.
Martin, with the victory, remains perfect at 9-0 in the SAC Central and now owning a 15-5 overall record.
“I’m very proud of the girls for how they hung in there and battled when things weren’t going their way,” said coach Ben Schipper. “Galesburg came out and couldn’t miss in the first half. They shot the lights out and put up more points in the first half (27) than we often allow in a game. Whether we played man or zone, they just hit shots.”
He noted, however, “Thank goodness we were hitting threes to keep us in it in the first half because I was very frustrated with our lack of movement and attacking on offense. “
He said his Lady Clippers came out in the second half with much more energy and desire and outscored the Rams 15-5 in the third to take the lead. Makala Goddard and Cirsten Coburn both hit two three-pointers to provide momentum and confidence.
Coburn hit three three for the night, finishing with 13 points. Goddard hit six threes, finishing with a game and career-high 25 points.
“These two played great tonight and all of their threes felt huge,” Schipper added. “Liz Reinke, Lynsey Jager, and Makala rotated guarding Klimp and Nord all night and gave great efforts on the defensive end. This team showed a lot of grit tonight, which has definitely been the story of our season.
“We’ve played in a lot of tough games and we’ve come out on top more times than not because we rise to the occasion.”
The Clipper boys later in the evening lost 74-38 to fall to 2-15 on the season overall.
