SHS girls improve to 14-1

The Superior High School girls basketball team improved to 14-1 with a 75-45 win over the Duluth East Greyhounds Thursday night in the DEHS gym.

“It’s always fun to beat Duluth East,” SHS coach Phil Roe said. “They’re always a very good team and it’s a good rivalry, so it’s good to beat them, especially on their home court.”

The Spartans led 35-21 at halftime before East scored the first four points of the second half to make it a 10-point game.

Superior’s lead bounced back-and-forth between 10 and 12 points, including when a pair of free throws by Mia Anderson got the Greyhounds within 45-35 with 12:07 remaining.

Superior then took off, scoring the next 10 points over the next four minutes for a 57-37 lead.

Then with mostly reserves in the game, the Spartans increased their lead to 33 points (72-39) on two Alyssa Correll free throws with 3:41 left.

Natalie Kintop’s 3-pointer made the score 75-43 and East’s Rachel Weyenberg completed the scoring with a basketball in the final seconds.

“East made some good adjustments in the second half,” Roe said. “They’re a big team and very physical with five girls 5-foot-10 and taller, but our girls fought through and battled.

“Later on in the second half you saw East trying to stay with our up-tempo pace and it caught up with them. They kind of lost their legs and we kept playing and kind of broke open the lead.

“Our pressure on defense also got a lot of steals and easy baskets.”

Hailey Kontny and Jessica Lindstrom provided a 1-2 punch for the Spartans with 25 and 23 points, respectively. Correll added 11 points, Alison Wainionpaa and Shannon Johnstad had four points each, Rachal Fregin and Kintop each made a 3-pointer and Abby Clemons made a basket.

Anderson had 13 points and Hannah Johnson 10 for East.

Superior led from the start of the game, including 4-0, 9-2 and 13-4 on a Correll basket.

After Johnson scored for East, Superior went on a 10-0 run for a 23-7 lead with 9:21 left in the first half.

An Anderson free throw stopped the run, but Superior eventually opened up a pair of 19-point leads, 27-8 and 29-10, on baskets by Lindstrom and Clemons.

After a Kontny free throw gave Superior a 30-12 lead, East finished the half with a 9-5 run to get within 35-21 at the intermission.

Superior plays at Grand Rapids (15-1) today and hosts Esko on Monday. Both games begin at 7:15 p.m.

“Both are going to be really big games,” Roe said. “Rapids is 13-4 and are always tough, especially on their home court. They’ll also have a huge crowd at the game which will add excitement to the game.

“As for Esko, they're 15-1, ranked No. 1 in the area among small schools, and have a 6-9 player that will be attending UCLA. They also have four guards that can penetrate and dish off to the big girl, so it will be a fun test for the whole team.”

Superior 35-40—75

Duluth East 21-24—45

Superior — Jessica Lindstrom 23, Alyssa Correll 11, Alison Wainionpaa 4, Shannon Johnstad 4, Rachel Fregin 3, Natalie Kintop 3, Abby Clemons 2, Hailey Kontny 25. Totals 28 10-20 75.

3-point goals — Fregin, Kintop, Correll.

Duluth East — Mia Anderson 13, Hannah Johnson 10, Elizabeth Libbon 9, Elena Lushine 4, Rachael Weyenberg 4, Emily Andersen 2, Veronica Rudolph 2, Danielle Cieluch 1. Totals 15 9-15 45.

3-point goals — M. Anderson 2.

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