Bronson girls improve to 5-0 with big win over Union City

Prior to Tuesday's home game against Union City, the Bronson girls had not taken the floor for a game in almost three weeks. While there was a bit of a rust at first, at least on the surface, the Lady Vikings shook that off and ran away from Union City, 76-32.

Much of the game, obviously, was not in doubt as Bronson turned it on. Even with the comfortable win, Viking head coach Tony Lasky said his team can continue to improve.

“We’ve got a ways to go,” he said. “Three weeks off, just come back to school. We’ll take it. I guess you never apologize for a win.”

The victory improves Bronson to 5-0 on the young season. The calendar has turned to January and basketball will certainly pick up for squads. The Vikings are set to play three games in the next week, including a pair of road games at Quincy and Constantine, plus a home visit from Sturgis.

Despite a 40-plus point victory over a conference foe in Union City on Tuesday night, Lasky and the Vikings want to continue to see improvements on both ends of the floor.

“Never pleased, but you know me,” Lasky said following Tuesday’s win. “I don’t want them to settle because I think they could be really special.”

Bronson has faced an opening five games against teams — Centreville, Athens, Concord, Jonesville and Union City — with a combined record of just 9-25. The Vikings have taken care of business in those contests, winning each by double figures and averaging victory by almost 35 per contest.

But, even despite the nice start, Lasky wants his team to be consistent each time they take the floor.

“We just have to figure out how to get more consistency and maintain the effort we have in spurts,” he said. “You’re always going to have lulls. Most old time coaches are going to tell you that basketball is a game of runs, but I think we could do a better job of extending our runs.”

The game started out close early — as most do. Bronson fed the basketball inside to Payton Springstead and Helena Eley early. Haylie Wilson knocked down a couple of shots as well and Bronson’s lead was increasing seemingly each possession.

Once it got into double digits, it spelled bad news for Union City, which struggled to get up quality shots. Jordan Chard, point guard for the Chargers, did a fair job of keeping them in rhythm, but the points weren’t adding up on the scoreboard.

Lasky said he was impressed with Chard’s ability to help attack Bronson’s defense.

But at the halfway point of the game, Bronson led 42-14.

There was a bit of a spark for the Chargers coming out in the second half, though. Union City would score seven of the first nine points in that quarter to bring the deficit down to 44-21, but Springstead hit a pair of buckets on back-to-back possessions to stabilize Bronson.

The Vikes then got free throws from Wilson, a triple from Aubree Calloway and a bucket from Brealyn Lasky to build a lead of 55-21, forcing a timeout from Union City.

That lead continued to swell for the Vikes. They led 67-28 entering the final eight minutes of regulation. In the fourth, the offense slowed down just enough, aided by the running clock midway through the stanza.

An assist from Calloway to Wilson with just over four minutes left in the game gave the Vikings the lead at 72-32.

Wilson led all scorers with 24 points. She grabbed six rebounds with four assists while Calloway finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Springstead tossed in 12 points and hauled in eight rebounds. Lasky chipped in with nine points, handing out three assists, Eley scored four points with four rebounds and two assists.

The youngsters played some meaningful minutes for the Vikes as well. Itzel Albarran and Ashlynn Harris, a pair of freshmen, each scored three points. Lydia Wells and Ava Hathaway each chipped in with two points as well. Grabbing a pair of rebounds while handing out two assists in the game was Ryleigh Fee.

Bronson shot just under 52 percent from the floor in the game. The Vikes connected on 9-of-18 from downtown, but made just 7-of-17 free throws.

“We’ll run for that,” Lasky said of the free throws, noting the team has a goal of hitting at least 65 percent per contest.

The Vikings will pack up and head to Quincy on Friday. The Orioles are 2-5 on the season.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Bronson girls improve to 5-0 with big win over Union City