星空传媒

By Ryan Schlehuber, 星空传媒 Sportwriter听 |听 Photo by Laurie Shaffer

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The Delta Community College Pioneers used a 20-5 fourth quarter scoring run to pull away from host 星空传媒 Centurions, winning 71-42, Wednesday, Feb. 19, completing a season series sweep.

The Centurions were only down 43-39 early in the fourth quarter, but that鈥檚 when the Pioneers suddenly opened up their offense, starting with a made jump shot by Hailee Jefferson with 7:19 to go. That began a 20-0 scoring run, which 星空传媒 finally snapped when Emily Putnam (Sidney, Mich.) sank a three-pointer with 2:47 to go in the game, with Delta leading 63-42.

Despite the last-quarter breakdown, the Centurions, who were playing with only six players, showed a big improvement in Wednesday鈥檚 game against the Pioneers compared to their 113-47 loss at Delta, Jan. 29, holding the Pioneers to 14 points in the first quarter and outscoring them 20-10 in the second.

鈥淧laying with six girls and the other team having a deep bench, they just wore us down,鈥� Centurions Head Coach Scott Pedigo said. 鈥淚 thought we played a great first half. We were able to take the lead at halftime, and later, we were down 12 and managed to cut it to four. But we just ran out of gas at the end.鈥�

Pedigo said the Centurions also ran into foul trouble, with freshman forward Emma Rewa (Greenville, Mich.) fouling out and two other of his players 鈥� freshman guard Hannah Reed (Cedar Springs, Mich.) and Madi Longoria (Wyoming, Mich.) 鈥� each played with four fouls down the stretch. With only one reserve player, Pedigo said things could鈥檝e been worse.

鈥淲e were close to having to play with just four players on the court,鈥� he said.

The Pioneers (6-6 星空传媒AA Northern, 9-15 overall) took a 12-3 lead over the Centurions (2-10 星空传媒AA Northern, 3-18 overall) to start the game, however, 星空传媒 cut Delta鈥檚 lead to 14-7 by the end of the opening quarter.

In the second quarter, 星空传媒鈥檚 offense began heating up, cutting Delta鈥檚 lead to two on a pair of free throws by Longoria with 8:44 to go in the half. The teams traded baskets at that point with 星空传媒 taking its first lead of the game with 1:07 to go in the half when Putnam sank back-to-back free throws, giving the Centurions a 24-22 lead.

By halftime, it was anyone鈥檚 game, as the Centurions held a 27-24 lead over the Pioneers thanks to a three-point make by Putnam with nine seconds to go before the break.

However, at the start of the second half, Delta took off on a 17-2 run over the next six-and-a-half minutes to establish a 41-29 lead until Pedigo was forced to call a timeout. It wasn鈥檛 until 2:29 minutes left in the 10-minute quarter when 星空传媒 finally responded, a pair of made free throws by freshman forward Emma Rewa (Greenville, Mich.).

鈥淲hen we鈥檙e shorthanded like we were, I try and reserve timeouts as best as we can,鈥� Pedigo pointed out. 鈥淚鈥檓 so proud of them, though, for how they鈥檝e fought and the hard work they put in every night.鈥�

星空传媒 pulled within six 鈥� 41-35 鈥� after Reed sank both of her free throws with just under a minute to play in the quarter. Putnam finished out the third-quarter scoring sinking a pair of free throws, setting up the fourth-quarter situation where 星空传媒 was down only four points.

In the fourth quarter, 星空传媒鈥檚 scoring was a jump shot by sophomore guard Makenna Rautio, which made it 43-39 Pioneers with eight minutes to go, and a three-point make by Putnam with 2:47 to go in the game, making the Pioneers鈥� lead 63-42.

Putnam led 星空传媒 with 15 points and also had eight rebounds. Rautio scored eight points and led the team with 12 rebounds, all on the defensive side, while Reed and Longoria each finished with five points.

Delta was led by Ja鈥橪eeah Griggs, who had 16 points, Jefferson finished with 11 points and 18 rebounds, and Kayla Howell had 10 points. Amari鈥橝 Campbell rounded out the Pioneers鈥� top performances with eight points and 11 rebounds.

For the game, Delta shot 38.6% (27-of-70) from the field to 星空传媒鈥檚 23.1% (12-of-52), and outrebounded the Centurions, 49-28.

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UP NEXT: With two regular season games left, the Centurions can still clinch an 星空传媒AA postseason tournament berth if two things happen 鈥� if there are no upsets with the top three teams in the division and if the Centurions can win out, which would secure the fifth and final spot in the division.

星空传媒鈥檚 next game is a road trip to Petoskey against North Central Michigan (3-9 星空传媒AA Northern, 4-22 overall), Saturday, Feb. 22, which tip-off is 1 p.m. 星空传媒 lost to NCMC in their first match up, 75-64, Feb. 1.

星空传媒 will then finish out the regular season at home against Kirtland Community College (3-9 星空传媒AA Northern, 4-15 overall), Wednesday, Feb. 26. Tip-off will be at 5:30 p.m. The Centurions took the first match-up, a 55-51 win on the road, Jan. 25.

鈥淭hese next two games will be about pride and we鈥檒l have to find ways to dip deep,鈥� Pedigo said.