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Balance helps Wildcats beat Petoskey for Senior Night win

News Photo by James Andersen Alpena senior Mollie Girard (3) drives by Petoskey’s Alexandra Odenbach for a basket during the first quarter of a girls basketball game on Tuesday at Alpena High School. Girard was one of five Alpena seniors to be honored on Senior Night and led Alpena with nine points in a 41-25 win.

ALPENA–On a night when the Alpena girls basketball team honored its seniors, a total team effort propelled the Wildcats to a win.

Mollie Girard scored nine points, including a buzzer beater as the Wildcats used a balanced game plan on both ends of the floor to defeat Petoskey 41-25 on Tuesday at Alpena High School during Senior Night.

Jade Schultz and Allie Funk each added seven points for the Wildcats (10-8, 4-4 Big North Conference), who didn’t do anything fancy on Tuesday. They simply made the shots they had to make, limited Petoskey’s best players offensively and made stops when they needed to make them.

“I think just playing together (was the key to victory),” Alpena coach Erin Andrews said. “That’s awesome, especially on Senior Night.”

Before the game, Alpena honored its five-member senior class–Girard, Amanda Johnson, Jessica Leeck, Maddie Voltz and Taylor Tolsdorf–and the quintet began the game on the floor. They played together again in the fourth quarter and finished with a combined 21 points.

“They’ve been a huge part of the program for the last few years, so getting those five seniors out there together all at once I think was pretty awesome,” Andrews said. “It was cool for us to see and that’s something they’ll remember 15 years from now.”

Despite an up-and-down first half, the Wildcats led 12-7 after one quarter and 18-12 at halftime, thanks to a three-pointer from Girard that she banked in at the buzzer.

It was one of many shots the Wildcats seemed to make at the right time on Tuesday. Macy Dickinson drained a triple of her own just ahead of the third quarter buzzer to give Alpena a 12-point lead and Abbie and Allie Funk each drilled a triple in the fourth quarter to push Alpena’s lead to 20.

“Right shot at the right time,” Andrews said of the three-pointers. “Allie and Abbie reach hit one and then Macy hit one. We were moving the ball around and shooting well.”

On the back of Girard’s buzzer-beater, the Wildcats got a boost in the third quarter from Schultz. After two first half fouls, Schultz had to sit for the latter half of the second quarter. When she returned in the third quarter, she made an instant impact, scoring on an inbound pass, scoring again on a pass inside and again on a putback.

Her six points helped the Wildcats keep the Northmen at bay as Petoskey hit a pair of three-pointers to pull to within four with 5:18 left in the third quarter. Thanks to some staunch defense, a pair of buckets from Schultz, Dickinson’s triple and a basket from Leeck, the Wildcats surged ahead and turned a 22-18 game into a 31-19 game by the end of the third quarter.

Megan Kolp, Petoskey’s 6-foot-1 senior forward, led the Northmen with 10 points, but was limited to just four in the second half.

Alexandra Odenbach and Peyton Miller each added six for Petoskey.

Tuesday’s game marked the start of a busy stretch of three games in four nights for the Wildcats, who will host Gaylord on Thursday and will host Traverse City Central on Friday to wrap up the regular season.

With weather scheduled to hit the area later this week, Andrews said her message to her team after the game was simple: stay prepared.

“Just to be ready for anything. We’re supposed to get some weather tomorrow,” Andrews said. “If we don’t (practice Wednesday), we know we’re ready for Gaylord. We’ve got our game plan for them and we’re ready for Traverse City Central too. We’re prepared whether we’re practice or not.”

Alpena’s JV team defeated Petoskey 45-30. Elyse Clarke led Alpena with 13, Allison Urlaub added 12 and Jenna Leeck chipped in with nine.

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BOX SCORE: Field goals made/Free throws made/Free throws attempted/Total Points

ALPENA (41): M. Girard 4 0-0 9; M. Voltz 3 0-2 6; J. Leeck 1 1-2 3; J. Schultz 3 1-2 7; Al. Funk 3 0-0 7; T. Tolsdorf 1 0-0 3; T. Baker 0 0-1 0; M. Dickinson 1 0-0 3; Ab. Funk 1 0-0 3.

PETOSKEY (25): M. Kolp 4 2-2 10; K. Bromley 0 0-4 0; A. Odenbach 2 0-0 6; P. Miller 2 0-0 6; E. Matthews 0 1-2 1; T. Beigle 1 0-0 2.

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