Thursday, Dec. 13 2012 11:56AM
Starting out on top
SCA’s first quarter run leads to win
By Brian Spano
Special to the Journal
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ReprintIf not for a 19-0 run the Summit Christian Academy Eagles posted on the University Academy Gryphons to start the game that ran well into the second quarter, it would have been a much closer contest.
The girls kicked off a doubleheader, with the boys playing the nightcap, Dec. 11 by knocking off the visiting Gryphons 45-25 and evening their record at 3-3.
Fortunately for Summit Christian, that 19-0 run came in very handy, because University Academy played them nearly level the rest of the way.
“One thing we talked about this year was coming out with intensity,” Eagles head coach Danielle Van Dyke said. “We seemed to have third-quarter lull every game, so we’re trying to find a way to fight past that. We come out with intensity and do our best to fight from there. With the team that I have, we’re still really young, so it’s a lot of taking the smart shot, working for that smart shot, and not working for the shots that we shouldn’t which we did a few times.”
Thanks to sophomore guard Jessa Kliewer’s 16 points and junior guard Brooke Jacobson’s 11, the Eagles were able to keep the Gryphons at arm’s length most of the night. Kliewer credited her teammates for her big night.
“I couldn’t have done any of it without my teammates,” she said. “We had several new girls, and they played great for their first game, and we had some freshmen step up. It wasn’t just me scoring, it was all of them helping.”
Most of the game was riddled with poor shooting from University Academy, fouls and turnovers from both sides. Neither side could really establish a flow or rhythm even though the Gryphons were able to chip away at the lead in the second half after trailing 30-7 at the break.
They got as close as 13, but Kliewer was clutch down the stretch, scoring seven points in the second half.
“I think we got a little ahead of ourselves,” Kliewer said of the Gryphons staying even for much of the game, “but I think we picked it up again in the fourth quarter.”
Kliewer led with 16 points, followed by Jacobson with 11 and Elizabeth Stratton with eight. Rachel Bacon had seven points, Belle Schooley added two and Mady Harmon had one point.
Even though it was just the sixth game of this young season, it was Jacobson’s final appearance because of a torn labrum which she played through. It will require surgery and for her to miss the rest of the season.
“She’ll be out for six months,” Van Dyke said. “She was told she could play through the pain, but she wasn’t herself tonight, she’s usually a lot more intense, and it’s going to be a big deal losing her, but we have a lot of girls who have a lot of heart. I have very coachable girls.”
