The Martin and Wayland girls’ basketball squads will be playing Friday evening in their respective district tournament finals.
Martin scored an upset 41-30 victory Wednesday over a Zion Christian outfit that had won its last five games in a row and sported a 14-5 regular season record. The Lady Clippers, now 10-11 for the season overall, will play a 9-9 Climax-Scotts group in the finals at Martin.
Martin had small leads in the first three quarters and pulled away in the last eight minutes.
“We’re very proud of our girls tonight for this win,” said coach Ben Schipper. “Zion is a solid team. We knew it was going to be a battle. We keep shooting ourselves in the foot with our slow starts. We got down 7-0 right away and had to claw our way back into it.”
Senior Maddy Bogdan picked up 5 of her team high 14 points in the first quarter. Then freshman Avery Jager carried the Clippers in the second quarter with 6 of her 10.
“I was very impressed with Avery tonight,” the coach added. “As a freshman, the pressure of a playoff game didn’t affect her at all. I loved her aggressiveness and confidence on the offensive end.
Schipper said Bogdan has really come on the last several games as a serious scoring option and closer in the fourth quarter.
“It’s been so fun to see the progress she has made,” Schipper said.
“Even though Makala (Goddard) and Gracie (Shettler) didn’t score as much as they normally do, they both played very solid tonight not trying to do too much, making plays for their teammates, and playing great defense. This was a great team win.”
Shettler finished with eight points and Goddard had five.
Wayland punched its ticket for the finals with a 45-42 triumph over tourney host Hamilton. The Lady Wildcats will take on a 12-8 Holland Christian team in the finals and will enter the fray with a 13-8 overall mark.
Holland Christian escaped an upset bid by a gallant Hopkins quintet in a 34-30 verdict. The Lady Vikings bowed out with a 9-12 overall record.
COVER PHOTO: The Martin girls perform the traditional post-game singing of the school fight song after a Clippers’ victory.