The cost of an early-season victory could be pretty steep for ThunderRidge.
The Grizzlies lumbered to a 64-35 victory over East on Thursday night in a Class 5A nonleague game, but Kelly Hartig, ThunderRidge’s 6-foot-3 senior post who is signed to play at Virginia, injured her left leg while trying to grab a rebound midway through the third quarter.
The initial prognosis was a strained patella tendon and not a ligament tear.
“We need her,” ThunderRidge coach Bill Bradley said.
The Grizzlies (2-1) jumped out to a 15-0 lead while not allowing East (2-2) a field goal in the first quarter.
The Angels got within six points in the second quarter, but it was a fairly one-sided second half, and the game lost most of its intensity down the stretch.
“In the second half we ran our plays all the way through and got some backdoor cuts,” ThunderRidge sophomore Rachel Messer said. “That worked and got us going a little bit.”
Messer scored a game-high 13 points, with 11 in the second half, Meagan Malcolm-Peck recorded all of her 12 points in the final two quarters, and Hartig was rolling with 12 points and five rebounds before being injured.
ThunderRidge, which won three consecutive state titles starting in 2003, did find some space in the lane. A number of well-placed lob passes to the player cutting through the paint generated some easy baskets. But this game was more airmail passes and airball shots than technical offense.
“We couldn’t get a flow,” East guard Brooke Durant said. “Everyone was just trying to get their shot off on their own. We definitely could have took (ThunderRidge), but everybody needed to be there, everybody needed to contribute.”
Durant scored a team-high nine points, Dale Samuels added eight points and Carlie Christianson pulled down 13 rebounds.
After hitting just three free throws in the first quarter and two to open the second quarter, the Angels finally dropped a shot from the floor with 5:12 remaining in the first half.
Nichole Finnie’s layup triggered a mini-run of sorts for the home team. The 8-0 run put East within 17-11, but the Grizzlies pulled away in the second half.
ThunderRidge 15 9 18 22 – 64
East 3 11 8 13 – 35
ThunderRidge – Malcolm-Peck 3 5-6 12, Evans 4 0-0 9, Messer 5 2-3 13, Luedtke 4 0-1 9, Hartig 5 2-2 12, Dederick 0 0-2 0, Potthoff 1 1-2 3, Jelniker 3 0-1 6, McBain 0 0-0 0, Bradley 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 10-17 64.
East – Durant 2 3-4 9, Sanders 0 6-8 6, Christianson 1 3-6 5, Nalley 1 0-1 2, Samuels 3 2-4 8, McPherson 0 0-1 0, Joiner 0 0-2 0, Groce 0 0-0 0, Calbert 0 0-0 0, Finnie 1 3-6 5. Totals 8 17-32 35.
3-pt. goals – Malcolm-Peck, Evans, Messer, Luedtke; Durant 2. Total fouls – ThunderRidge 26, East 19. Fouled out – Malcolm-Peck, Evans. Technicals – None.
