Elgin starts girls basketball season with win over Fenton
The Elgin girls basketball team could not have asked for a better start to the 2015-16 season.
After scoring the first 22 points against host Fenton, the Maroons cruised to a 60-35 victory in the opening game of the Fenton/Addison Trail Thanksgiving Tournament on Tuesday night.
"That's as good of a start to a game as we've had," said Elgin coach Nick Bumbales, whose team won its first season opener in the past seven years. "It's a great start. In my seven years as the coach, the last four days of practice were the best four days in a row of practice since I took the program over. I was hoping it would carry over to the game and it did. The older kids really stepped it up and the younger kids gave good contributions."
The full-court pressure of Elgin set the tone, with the visitors forcing 12 turnovers in the first quarter alone. The Maroons, who played all 17 players, led 38-16 at halftime and saw that advantage swell to 54-19 at the end of three quarters.
"We shot the ball really well and they had a difficult time with our pressure," Bumbales said. "We really got after it those first four, five minutes. The scoring was very balanced and they were very unselfish."
Indeed, Elgin put three players into double figures, with Tianna Stewart leading all scorers with 14 points. Alisha Panthier chipped in with 12, and Lakiya Harvey contributed 10.
"It feels good," Harvey said. "We've been working very hard and coming out with this great win is amazing. It's a great start to the season and we are excited. I'm excited to see how well we do."
The Bison, who were already playing without Krysta Wilson and Ashley Lira, lost both Jessica Bango and Jamie Minard to injuries in the first half. Giselle Gomez was a bright spot with the junior posting 12 points and 7 rebounds. Jenny Sanchez added 9 points and 3 steals.
"They put it to us," Fenton coach Tim Anderson said. "They were physically superior to us and jumped on us right away. For us it is going to be about getting kids some experience. We only had one girl on the floor after Jessica and Jamie went down with varsity experience."