Coming out of the break at halftime, the Huskies of Forest Hills Northern came out with a new mentality. They picked up their play offensively, catching fire behind the arc and going on an 11-0 scoring run. FHN, because of their hot streaks offensively, fended of the FHC’s girls JV basketball team 51-38 on Thursday night.

“They came out of the half hot,” head coach Kevin Brechting said. “While they were scoring, we were on an offensive lull. Credit to them for their play tonight.”

FHC trailed from the first whistle. Unlike the Huskies, the Rangers did not start of strongly. FHC fell behind early 10-0, as they were unable to get anything going on offense. Sloppy passing and poor defending gave FHN their chances early, and they converted.

Midway through the first half, FHC decided to switch up strategies and change into a 2-3 defensive zone. This move halted the Huskies attack and allowed them time to get back into the game. At the end of the first, the Lady Rangers had closed the gap to six. They now trailed 6-12.

“We got off to a slow start,” sophomore Jayden Bonsall said. “We didn’t score a basket in the first four minutes, so we allowed them to get a head start.”

The beginning of the second consisted of both sides trading baskets back and forth. The defensive play was minimal as the guards of the respective teams were able to get to the rack and draw several fouls.

After a FHC timeout, a defensive switch was made. This effectively shut down the FHN attack, while the Lady Rangers were able to stay hot offensively. FHC went on a 8-0 run late in the second and managed to close the gap to 4. FHN went into halftime leading 24-20.

“Before halftime we started hitting our shots,” Brechting said. “We had been getting open looks all game, and they just weren’t falling. In the last three minutes of the half, it seemed as if we were rarely missing.”

The Huskies came out of the gate hot in the second half. Scoring early and often, FHN increased their lead to 33-22. The Huskies again displayed their deadly shooting from deep. FHN went 6 of 8 from downtown in the third and led at the end of the quarter by eleven.

To start off the fourth, FHC switched to a full-court press defense. This not only stalled the Husky offense but gave the Rangers a chance to tighten the scoring deficit. The Lady Rangers began to heat up, but in the end it was too little too late. FHN had defeated FHC 51-38.

“We started off the fourth quarter with an effective defensive press,” sophomore Kristin Giles said. “We forced a couple of turnovers, but it wasn’t enough.”

Although FHC fell short on Thursday night they showed promise. Sophomores Kaitlyn Piontkowsky and Jayden Bonsall both filled up the score sheet and played up to their full potential.

Going into their next game against East Grand Rapids on the road, the girls JV team will need clean up their play as a unit.

“We’ve got to work on our rebounding and our offensive play,” Kristin said. “We weren’t moving without the ball and our passing wasn’t as crisp as we would have liked. Now we know our weaknesses and have to work harder in practice.”