Lexi Lemire got some looks in the first half, just didn’t put any of them in. She went 0-5 from behind the arc in the first, but shooters shoot. Lemire came out of the locker room and turned a 4 point game into a 13 point game within a few minutes. MaKenzie Green had a trey between Lemire’s pair to force a McKinley timeout amid a 9-0 Eagle run.

In a game that started much slower than any between these two in recent memory, not much was going right early. Nakyah Terrell got the Pups moving early on a steal and layup, but they went five and a half minutes without a score after that. Both teams combined for 4 field goals in a 6-4 first quarter that featured more turnovers than points.

Terrell battled foul trouble all night, with all four being on shot blocking attempts. To Coach Bowdens credit, although she did miss some time, he didn’t bench her for extended periods of time. Terrell finished with 11 for McKinley, while Kyla Foster had a game high 20 points. Foster did a great job caring the scoring load while Terrell was in foul trouble.

McKinley answered with an 8 point run of their own on the back end of the 3rd, but Lemire, who had 11 of her 15 in the quarter, put in 5 of her own to limit the damage as GlenOak went into the last period up double digits.

The 4th quarter exposed the crunch time inexperience for the Eagles as they turned the ball over many times and the Pups made a run. GlenOak forced bad shots, had short empty possessions, and made risky passes, and McKinley just refused to go away. There closest it got was 45-40 in the 4th where Breezy Williams eventually took control of. She finished with 14 and had an impact defensively where she got tips on a lot of passes and dribbles.

Final score was 47-41, the next matchup between these two teams will be at GlenOak on Saturday, January 11th. GlenOak is at home next against Hoover on Saturday. McKinley visits Perry on Saturday.