As a third-degree black belt, Allegan senior Leslie Scane’s hands could be considered lethal weapons.
Her outside shot was also pretty lethal in the Tigers’ Wolverine Conference South clash with Plainwell on Friday, Jan 6.
Scane knocked down a career-best six 3-pointers as part of a game-high 20-point effort to help Allegan to the 48-39 win over the visiting Trojans.
According to Allegan coach Josh Holman, Scane’s solid performance is the direct result of the effort she put into her game in the offseason.
“Leslie is one of those kids who isn’t afraid of hard work,” he said. “She was in the gym all the time during the summer, wanting to work on different things. She’s put in a lot of time on her outside shooting and what you saw out there tonight is the result of that.”
Not that Scane was the only Tiger player to shoot well from long range.
Fellow senior Haylie Curtiss buried three triples to join Scane in double figures with 12 points.
“I figured going in that whichever team had the best night from outside was probably going to win,” Plainwell coach Tim Rieman said. “And whenever you give up nine 3’s to two players you’re usually going to be in trouble.
“Our plan was to pressure their shooters as much as possible. But for whatever reason, we seemed to sag on them at times, especially Curtiss. She and Scane made us pay.”
Despite the long-range assault by Scane and Curtiss, Plainwell kept itself in the game throughout the first half. Allegan held a slim 14-13 lead after one quarter and was up 23-20 at halftime.
The score was nearly as close at the end of the third quarter.
The Tigers limited Plainwell to a single point in the third stanza, while scoring 12 points during that span. That upped Allegan’s lead to 35-21 heading to the final frame.
“That was obviously huge,” Holman said of his team’s third-quarter defensive effort. “We had done really well in the first half, coming up with eight steals and only committing two turnovers. And then to come out in the third quarter and play like we did really gave us the momentum.”
Plainwell did its best to fight back in the fourth quarter, narrowing the deficit to single digits. The Trojans simply didn’t have enough time to erase the deficit.
“I was proud of the way we continued to battle in the fourth,” Rieman said. “That’s a really good sign for us.
“It was a tough game for us. Allegan played well and deserves a lot of credit. At the same time, this group of girls works extremely hard and I have no doubt they’ll bounce back from this.”
Hayley Hawkes was the lone Trojan to reach double figures in scoring, going for 11 points. Sophia Monroe added nine points, while Sara White chipped in with seven.
Antonette Ware contributed eight points to go with seven rebounds and three steals for Allegan, with Kara Bishop adding six points and a team-best 11 rebounds.
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