WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

With the regular season drawing to a close, the Huntington women’s basketball team is peaking at the right time, with their latest victim Spring Arbor (17-9, 10-6) who they picked off 91-70 Saturday afternoon at Platt Arena.

The Foresters have won four out of their last five league contests to improve to 15-11 overall which includes an 8-8 league record. With two regular season games remaining, HU is sitting fifth in the CL standings.

Maggard and crew played with undeniable purpose and focus so once they grabbed the lead at 9-6 on Bailey Kelham’s triple four minutes in, they kept their foot on the gas. The Foresters never relinquished control regardless of what the Cougars threw their direction.

Up by as many as 13 in the second quarter, HU didn’t bat an eye when SAU pieced together a 10-2 run to trim it to five at 39-34 with two minutes left in the half. Instead, Gabi Melby responded with a long ball to eventually send her team into the locker room up 44-36.

The Cougars tried to break Huntington again to start the second frame by reeling off the first four points, dwindling the difference to four at 44-40. But between Melby and Liv Raby, the pair scored 12 points in three minutes to put nine points between the two squads at 56-47.

SAU would cut it to five once more in the third before HU closed out the quarter with a 71-58 advantage. It was smooth sailing after that as Huntington built on their double digit lead the rest of the way enroute to the 21-point victory.

Contributions were plentiful with Melby pacing the crew with 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Saddled by foul trouble in the first half, Liv Raby finished with 19 points, scoring all but five in the final 20 minutes, on a dazzling 9-for-9 performance from the floor. Addie Shank soaked up the majority of her minutes in the first half on the way to pouring in a career-best 16 points. She was a rebound shy of a double double which included ripping down four offensive boards.

Kelham added 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal. Annaka Nelson’s play was also crucial to HU’s success having corralled a game-tying 11 rebounds while scoring six points and handing out three dimes. Kyndell Jochim also added plenty of value to her team by posting seven points, six boards, two assists and two steals.

To make up for only getting to the line 14 times to SAU’s 37, Huntington outscored their guests 56-26 in the paint and shot 52.2 percent from the field (36-for-69) to Spring Arbor’s 32.3 percent (21-for-65).

Alana Nelson, the league’s leading scorer, did what she does best by going off for 33 points in addition to chasing down 11 rebounds for the double double. Megan Zeitz was the only other Cougar in double figures with ten.

The Foresters head to Taylor on Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off with the Trojans.