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Sports
By Patrick Browne
Playing their fourth game of the season on Dec. 21, the Lady Wykons (1-2) were hoping to record a victory and go into their Winter Holiday with a record of 2 and 2. Their opponent, the Lady Eskymos of Escanaba (0-3), had different plans, seeing the game against the Wykons as an opportunity to record their first victory and get their season on track.
After arguably one of the most successful seasons in Escanaba’s history last season, the Eskymos entered the contest with an 0 and 3 record and were looking for their first victory. The Lady Wykons entered their third consecutive game without their starting point guard, Danica Shamion, who was injured in their only victory of the season. The Wykons were hopeful in suiting up for their third game without their point guard, they would be able to find the recipe and bring home a victory.
With both teams entering the contest with high hopes only one team would leave the court having achieved their goal. Unfortunately for the Wykons, it was Escanaba.
In falling to 1 and 3 on the season, the Lady Wykons are looking forward to restarting their season at full strength when they return to the court in January to take on Kingsford. The two week break will give the Wykons an opportunity to get healthy and return to the court renewed for the rest of the season.
From the start the Eskymos took control of the game and the Wykons were left to play catch-up.
“We didn’t handle the half court zone very well. We had too many turnovers that led to buckets for the Eskymos,” stated Wykon Coach Eric Shamion.
The first quarter saw the Wykons fall behind 21 to 9 and the lead was extended to 44 to 15 by halftime. Wykon possessions bogged down when the Eskymo press forced turnovers and didn’t give the Wykons opportunities to set up their offense. The Eskymos were seemingly everywhere on the court. Their swarming defense collapsed on the Wykons and prevented them from seeing open players on the court or getting good looks at the basket.
After three quarters of play the score rested at 59 to 26 and, although the Wykons managed to score 12 points in the final quarter, the game ended 73 to 38.
Despite the outcome of the game, eight of the nine Wykons scored. The team was led by Sidney Storti (nine points), Kaitlyn Smith (eight) and Lacey Shamion (six).
“We need to make better decisions on offense and we need to toughen up on defense,” stated Shamion. “We have a lot of work to do over the holidays!”