St. Clair girls basketball hopes win over Marysville will 'set the tone'
ST. CLAIR — When the St. Clair girls basketball team took the floor Tuesday, 1,413 days had passed since its last win over Marysville.
The Saints refused to wait any longer.
St. Clair held off the Vikings, 45-43, in front of a raucous home crowd. Erin Seros scored a team-high 18 points for the Saints, who improved to 2-0. Marysville fell to 1-2 and was led by Kara Miller's 18 points.
"It feels really good," Seros said. "I think it really set the tone for the rest of the season. From here, we're just going to keep improving and see where it goes."
"The Marysville program is phenomenal," St. Clair coach Darren Pietrykowski said. "We've been knocking on the door for a few years. This group of girls I got is special. They needed to beat (Marysville). We've been close. Their program is at a different level than ours, but ours is coming (along) ... the girls are starting to believe."
"Both teams played super hard," Marysville coach Ryan Rathje said. "In that first quarter, St. Clair played great defense and we struggled to score. So I was proud of how our girls battled back. We've got a lot of things to work on, but I thought we played our hearts out trying to make plays. Give St. Clair credit, they made a couple more plays than we did."
The Saints' defense overwhelmed Marysville to give St. Clair an 8-0 edge after the opening period.
"We got off to a good start, which helped," Pietrykowski said. "In the years past, we were always down and had to play (from behind). This time, it was the reverse."
But the Vikings answered with a 9-0 run to begin the second quarter. Miller got Marysville on the board with a 3-pointer 40 seconds in. It was the first of her four triples on the night. Avery Wolters (13 points) scored the next three baskets to top the run.
"It was good to see the ball going in for Kara," Rathje said. "She's a terrific shooter and she did a great job reading the defense to get open. I thought her teammates did a great job of setting screens for her. So that was helpful."
Added Rathje: "Avery gave us a good scoring punch, too. She played terrific defense as well. We were able to get some of our points from Avery's defense."
The Vikings grabbed their largest, 17-9, on a floater from Miller midway through the quarter. St. Clair then stopped the bleeding with a 7-4 spurt to close the half.
Seros scored 11 points of the Saints' 17 points in the third period. She capped a 7-0 tear with a long jumper in the closing seconds to put St. Clair ahead, 37-32, after three.
"(The key) was both our offense and defense," Seros said. "We had to stop them on defense and watch our fouls, but we also had to produce. We had to make our shots."
Marysville hung around but never regained the lead in the fourth. Addison Mynsberge made it interesting though when she buried a triple with 11 seconds left to pull the Vikings within two, 45-43.
But St. Clair successfully inbounded the ball and played keep away until time expired.
"This game meant a little more to us just because we had never beaten Marysville (with this group)," Pietrykowski said. "We wanted to see how we're narrowing the gap between their program and ours. I know it's just the second game, but we put it up on the board knowing how important it was for our confidence and to see how far we've come."
"We lost a lot of girls from last year," said Rathje, referring to last season's historic 22-3 finish. "But we have some really good pieces to work with. We're looking forward to getting some more practices under our belt and to keep getting better every day. We'll play as hard as we can for each other. I think we're on our way to doing that."
These two rivals compete in different leagues now, with Marysville (the reigning MAC Gold champions) having moved up to the MAC Blue. The Saints remain in the MAC Gold and want to be the next team to claim that throne.
"This year, we believe a league title is attainable," Pietrykowski said. "And we believe a district title is attainable. We want to keep on improving. With our non-conference schedule, we're not afraid to play anybody."
When Seros was asked what goal she had for her team, the senior kept it simple.
"Keep winning."
Armada 52, Marlette 35
Sydney Upton scored a game-high 15 points for the Tigers, who improved to 2-1. Meya Drob and Darrah MacKenzie each added nine points for Armada. The Tigers will host Warren Regina at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Marlette fell to 1-2 and was led by Gabby Martinez's 14 points. Hollie Hartwell chipped in eight points for the Red Raiders, who will visit Vassar at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Cass City 51, Sandusky 49 (OT)
The Wolves suffered their first loss of the season and dropped to 2-1. Morgan Taege scored a team-high 19 points and dished out three assists. Ally Jansen contributed 16 points, four assists and three steals.
Sandusky will look to bounce back when it travels to Capac at 2 p.m. on Friday.
Marine City 75, Eastpointe 11
Jade Blanchard posted a 25-point, 10-rebound double-double as the Mariners improved to 2-0. Alyssa Chartier added 19 points and four boards as nine Marine City players scored in the blowout.
The Mariners will welcome Warren Fitzgerald at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
Yale 37, Harbor Beach 23
Nobody scored in double figures for the Bulldogs. But that didn't matter, as they cruised past the Pirates and improved to 2-0. Sadie Dykstra led the way for Yale with seven points, eight rebounds and two steals.
The Bulldogs will host Memphis at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Imlay City 46, Bloomfield Hills Marian 40 (Monday)
The Spartans won their 30th straight game at home and improved to 3-0 this season. Brie Hund scored a team-high 16 points and Lexa Forti totaled 12. Lily Lengemann finished with six assists.
Imlay City is idle until Friday when it faces Peck in the Harry Moore Classic at Capac High School. Tipoff is at 4 p.m.
Contact Brenden Welper at bwelper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendenWelper.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: St. Clair girls basketball hopes win over Marysville will 'set the tone'
