News Photo by Jonny Zawacki Hillman’s Vanessa Schook (12) dribbles past Rudyard defender Lane Clegg during the third quarter of a girls basketball game on Thursday at Hillman High School. Schook scored a game high 17 points in the Tigers 59-37 victory.

HILLMAN — After dropping its first game of the season, the Hillman girls basketball team has been on a roll ever since. The Tigers won their third consecutive game on Thursday night, defeating Rudyard by a final score of 59-37 to end 2016 on a positive note.

“It was a good game and I thought it was a good team effort for us. Rudyard is a good team and they played against some good competition and we were not overlooking them by any means,” Hillman coach John Kuzewski said.

The Tigers scored the first five points to start the game and never trailed throughout the entire game, but Hillman was tested early as the Bulldogs answered back to tie the game at eight midway through the first quarter, but the Tigers ended the quarter scoring eight of the last 10 points to take a six point lead after one.

The second quarter was a different story as Hillman began to press and the Bulldogs had no answer and the Rudyard turnovers led to a plethora of points for the Tigers as they took control in the second outscoring Rudyard 18-7 to take a 17 point lead into the break.

“The first quarter was a little bit tight, but the second quarter determined the game because we put some pressure on them and we had better ball movement and once we displayed that movement, we were getting open shots and we got them to fall,” Kuzewski said.

Hillman extended its lead throughout the third quarter and continued to press as they took a 21 point lead heading into the final quarter.

The Tigers got a full team effort in the victory as all but two players on the roster got into the scoring column.

Hillman was led by Vanessa Schook who poured in a game high 17 points on the night. Andrea Taratuta added 10 points as the only other player to reach double digit scoring. Kristen Kenyon collected eight points. Jozie Appelgren and Morgan Armon both chipped in with six points and Lyndsey Ryba scored five points in the win.

“We have a deep team, but it’s always beneficial to get everyone playing time. Each game everyone has played in and tonight everyone got significant minutes so that is going to help down the road,” Kuzewski said.

Jadyn Mesnard score nine points to lead the Bulldogs. Mackenzie Knutsen and Lane Clegg added seven points apiece. Cierra Molina chipped in with five points and Hannah Beelen scored four points in the losing effort.

Hillman improves to 3-1 overall on the year and will have some time off before returning to action on January 2, to begin the new year with a road game at Posen.

“We have had a lot of time off already with this being just our fourth game in over a month. We’re not really looking forward to the time off, but I feel we are heading in the right direction,” Kuzewski said. “I like the way the team is shaping up and we’ll be ready once we get back from Christmas break.”

The Hillman JV team was also victorious on Thursday, defeating Rudyard by a score of 39-27.

The Tigers were led by freshman Joslynn Brown who scored 10 points. Alison Samp added nine points in the winning effort.

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HILLMAN (59) — V. Schook, 7 2-3 17; L. Ryba, 2 1-5 5; J. Appelgren, 3 0-0 6; M. Armon, 3 0-0 6; E. LaFleche, 1 0-0 2; B. Jones, 1 0-0 2; J. Clink, 1 0-0 2; A. Taratuta, 3 3-3 10; K. Kenyon, 4 0-0 8.

RUDYARD (37) — T. Blitnar, 0 1-2 1; M. Knutsen, 2 2-4 7; A. Blackwood, 0 3-4 3; L. Clegg 3 0-2 7; H. Beelen, 1 2-3 4; E. Maloney, 0 1-2 1; C. Molina, 1 3-6 5; J. Mesnard 2 4-6 9.