Sophomore Gracie Shettler and junior Natalie Yowler came off the bench and sparked the Martin girls’ varsity basketball team to a hard-fought 45-36 victory Friday night over a surprisingly competitive Coloma team.
The Clipper guys gave Coloma a battle for more than three and a half quarters before falling 62-57 in the nightcap.
The Martin girls, now 11-1 overall, had an inkling things would be a lot tougher against a Comet team they beat 40-26 earlier this season. Coloma lost its first six games, but then after the return of point guard Megan Koenigshof reeled off four straight victories, including a two-point decision over Gobles, which last Friday handed the Lady Clippers their only loss this season.
The game was plagued by sloppy play and a lot of missed layups in the early going. It was apparent that it was a good thing Martin again was playing excellent defense; otherwise they would have been blown out early.
The Lady Clippers scored only five points, three on a bomb by senior guard Kiaya Warner and they were down by one after the first eight minutes. The worm turned early in the second period when Koenigshof was whistled for her third foul and Martin went on a 13-0 run, featuring a three by Jacqueline Hildebrand and fast-break hoops engineered by her and the Warner sisters, Kiaya and Brianna.
By intermission, the home team was enjoying a 20-12 cushion.
The Lady Clippers went right back to work early in the second half, taking command of a 15-point lead, 32-17, on the strengths of the Warners outside with steals and inside scoring by Faith Guritz.
But the Comets slowly got right back in it on a three-point play by the tallest girl on the floor, 6-footer Megan Neubecker, and a couple of threes by shooting guard Marissa Sherburn. They crept to within five, 37-32, with 5:33 left in the ballgame.
Yowler hit Guritz with a nifty pass inside for a layup, Kiaya took a layup on the run after a steal and Brianna hooked up with Shettler for a crucial hoop.
Guritz had 10 points and 11 rebounds to lead Martin, Kiaya had nine, Shettler eight and Hildebrand six, with five steals.
Neubecker collected 13 points for Coloma and Sherburn had 11. The Comets now are 4-8 on the season overall.
Coloma’s boys took advantage of a strong start and led the Clippers 25-19 at intermission. Then Martin went on a magnificent 13-2 burst at the start of the third quarter to grab a 32-27 lead.
But three-point shooting of Comet guards Jake Ickes and Drew Goodline enabled them to pull even and take a slim 39-36 lead into the fourth period.
Junior forward Collin Coburn engineered a second comeback by nailing threes and free throws and with just 4:13 left on the clock the two teams were knotted at 49.
That’s when Coloma scored a 9-1 run to go up 58-50. The closest the Clippers would get was within three on a three by Cayden Curry with 33.5 seconds left.
Coburn dropped in 28 points to lead all scorers. Curry added nine and Brayden Eckman seven. Goodline had 14 points, Ickes 11 and Brenden Jacobs 10.
The Clippers now are 3-9 overall while Coloma is 6-5.
COVER PHOTO: Salome Gresse, a foreign exchange student from Belgium, and Ethan Gillihan were crowned king and queen at the Martin Winterfest celebration.