Glenelg Girls Lock Down Oakland Mills for Third Win

By Liam Day
 
     This week, the Glenelg Girls Varsity Basketball team entered their fourth game of the season against Oakland Mills after coming off of an easy win versus South River High School last week. Senior and starting power forward Julia Wolfrey returned to the court for the first time after tearing her ACL during the middle of last season, and center Katie Laporte looked to put in her best defensive effort once again as the only Freshman on the team.

     The game started quick and aggressive for Glenelg; they immediately jumped off to an 11-2 lead just minutes into the first quarter. They relied heavily on shots outside the paint, but Oakland Mills eventually caught onto this strategy, allowing them to trail by only 7 by the time the quarter ended. The second quarter was well fought by both teams. With the second half ending after a buzzer-beating layup on a quick fast break, Glenelg kept their lead up by a total of 9 points. Some highlights of the half included Glenelg being able to knock down every single free throw that they attempted, along with their success behind the three point line (4 shots for 7).

     The second half began slow for Glenelg. The Scorpions came within four points of taking the lead, but Coach Beil quickly called timeout and got the team back on track. They followed up by scoring ten straight points! Three point shots then continued to fall for the Gladiators - they ended the third quarter with a total of 75 percent success behind the line and finished the game with a total of 7 shots for 11.

     The Scorpions were simply unable to keep up with the Gladiators after their large point deficit during the first half, and this lead to Glenelg taking the win, 61-44. Starting point guard Jessica Foster finished with a huge 23 point total, and Glenelg's defensive game improved immensely - they allowed an average of only 11 points per quarter. Head Coach Chris Biel was very pleased with their performance, and said that “our defense is improving and our offense flowed very well.” Coach was also asked how about the team's performance as a whole, and said, “...it's always a team effort, but Jessie’s 23 points was very important for us.”
     Freshman Katie Laporte was a defensive wall in the paint. Oakland Mills scored was forced to take the variety of their shots outside the paint with Laporte grabbing almost every rebound of their missed shots. She finished with a whopping four blocks and a steal on the defensive side of the ball. Laporte said, “we played great ‘help defense’ and passed the ball very well.”
     The Glenelg girls basketball team advances to 3-1 on the season and has jumpstarted the 2015-16 season to be a promising won for the Gladiators and they look to keep the momentum rolling going into week five versus Hammond.