Eagles Fly Past Indians; Advance To Breslin Center

NEGAUNEE---The Stephenson High School girls basketball team will play at Michigan State University's Breslin Center on Thursday night. The girls rolled past the Newberry Indians, 60-35, in the Class D state quarterfinal Tuesday in Negaunee.

Stephenson will face Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart on Thursday, which slipped past Gaylord St. Mary, 27-26, in the other quarterfinal. Game time is 7:50 ET/6:50 CT.

"I'm just so overwhelmed with everything that's been happening in the community and with these girls," Stephenson Coach Shanna Beal told WJMN-TV Local Three after the game. "We just have a lot of pride, and we're very super proud. We play withour hearts., and we just believe in each other. So, it's just a great experience right now."

The first quarter of Tuesday's game was a track meet, with Stephenson racing out to a 17-12 lead. Things slowed down in the second quarter, especially when Eagles center Tori Wangerin was whistled for her third foul. Stephenson scored just seven points in the second quarter, but Newberry managed only three, so it was 24-15 at halftime.

The zone defense employed by the Eagles was very tough for Newberry to navigate.

"We normally wouldn't stay in the zone for the whole game," Beal said. "But I know that Newberry likes to screen and drive. So, I'm like, we're gonna stay in this zone. We're gonna try to close the gaps. We're gonna play behind 'big'. And that's what they did."

The Eagles put things away in the third quarter, as the Indians had no answer for Wangerin and the Johnson girls inside.

Stephenson started the second half on a 13-1 run to take a 37-16 lead, and the Eagles were on cruise control for the rest of the game.

Wangerin, despite picking up her fourth foul in the third quarter, still led all scorers with 20 points. Both Johnson girls...Kelsey and Karley...had eleven points, with Kelsey Johnson adding 15 rebounds to that linescore. Autumn Rasner also had eleven points.

For Newberry (23-2), Taylor Bryant led the way with 14 points.

Stephenson improved to 24-2 on the season. You can hear the girls' game against Sacred Heart live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com, Thursday night.

In Class C state quarterfinal action, the St. Ignace Saints lost to Traverse City St. Francis, 48-44, Tuesday night in Gaylord.

The loss by the Saints means that Stephenson is the only Upper Peninsula girls basketball team still alive in the state playoffs.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Mike Dagenais, and to hear comments from Coach Beal, courtesy of WJMN-TV.