Superior girls down Dockers

Tuesday’s game between the Superior High School girls basketball team and Ashland didn’t go into overtime, but the Oredockers still managed to give Superior more of a challenge than it has faced so far early in the season.

The Spartan girls defeated Ashland 80-57 Tuesday in Superior to improve to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the Lake Superior Conference.

Superior and Ashland battled into overtime in both of their regular season games last year, but Superior made sure Tuesday’s game wouldn’t run beyond regulation by jumping out to a quick 14-2 lead.

Ashland stormed back to make it a two-possession game, but Superior remained in front and put the game safely out of reach until the final minutes of play.

“I was proud of my team’s hustle and mental composure in the second half,” said SHS coach Phil Roe. “We kept having to battle back and forth with Ashland.”

Superior’s reserve players were vital in the second half as Hailey Kontny and Jessica Lindstrom were both benched with three fouls early.

The Spartans led 48-31 with 14 minutes to play in the second half. Ashland’s Emily Stephenson then began a 7-0 run for the Oredockers with a quick shot inside. Nicole Huber got the put-back and extra point on the foul to make it 48-36, and Stephenson’s fast-break layup made it 48-38 in favor of the Spartans.

Ashland remained about 10 points behind the Superior until the Spartans broke away in the waning minutes.

Superior led 71-57 with two minutes to play and closed out the game with a free throw and four layups to claim the 80-57 victory.

Kontny and Lindstrom accounted for 56 or Superior’s total points. Kontny led the way with 31 points and Lindstrom added 25. Lindstrom also added 17 rebounds for her third double-double this season, while Kontny had six steals. Raya Kosey had six assists to lead the team, Kallyn Lagro added seven points, Dani Magdzas had five and Alison Wainionpaa had four points.

SPARTAN SPIN: Superior won the JV game 54-11. Emily Hansen had 11 points and Leah Holmes and Morgan Kubarek had eight points each. ... The SHS freshmen lost 48-25 to Duluth East. Ashland doesn’t have a ninth-grade team.

Ashland 25-32—57

Superior 34-46—80

Ashland — Emily Stephenson 19, Briana Tody 10, Nicole Huber 9, Brittani Brennen 8, Sophie Habas 3, Olivia Bretting 3, Breann Robinson 3, Kaela Huber 2. Totals 22 9-15 57.

3-point goals — Tody 2, Brennen, Stephenson.

Superior — Hailey Kontny 31, Jessica Lindstrom 25, Kallyn Lagro 7, Dani Magdzas 5, Alison Wainionpaa 4, Raya Kosey 3, Abby Clemens 1, Abby O’Shaughnessy 2, Ally Gotelaere 2. Totals 34 10-24 80.

3-point goals — Lindstrom 2.

Tags: sports, superior, spartans, basketball, ashland, updates