ST. LOUIS TAKES TVC WHITE LEAD, BOUNCES BY MLS 43-33
Sharks improve to 2-1 in conference play
It was a battle for first place in the Tri-valley Conference White.
On Friday night St. Louis’ girls basketball team hosted Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary in a game that featured the two top teams in the TVC White.
Coming into the game the host Sharks sat at 11-3 overall and at 4-1 in conference play.
The Cardinals came in at 9-3 overall and were tied with St. Louis for first place in the conference at 4-1.
In short, the conference lead was at stake. It was a huge game for both programs.
In the end St. Louis prevailed by a final of 43-33 to take sole possession of first place with two conference games left on the regular-season schedule. If the Sharks defeated Saginaw Valley Lutheran at home on Feb. 16 or win at Ithaca on Feb. 23 they would, at minimum, clinch a share of the conference crown. If they win both they would clinch the crown outright.
St. Louis last won a girls basketball conference title back in 2014.
“That’s a big win for us, it kind of puts us in the driver’s seat,” said St. Louis head coach Doug Knauf following the festivities. “Our defense played pretty good and that’s kind of why we’re winning this year, we’re keeping teams down. We’re getting there.”
In terms of how the Sharks got there on Friday night, well, they did a solid job of slowing down MLS senior center Julia Wenzel, who had a decided height advantage over everyone as she stands in at 6-foot-2 or 6-foot-3.
St. Louis’ combination of Zoey Clarke and Natalee Hoyt held Wenzel to 15 points while the Shark defense forced 22 turnovers. Moreover, the Cardinals struggled from the floor as they hit 31-percent from the floor on 11-of-36 shooting.
The Sharks took a 10-4 lead at the end of one before pushing it to 21-10 at the half via a Josie Schrot three-point buzzer-beater.