Salem — Over in the northeast part of Salem, the McKay Lady Scots and Sprague Olympians faced off on Monday night in a battle of rebuilding programs, both of whom looked to pick up their first win in Mountain Valley Conference play this season. In the past few years, these two teams have provided some pretty interesting matchups, with Monday’s game being no exception to that trend between these programs.
The Lady Scots drew first blood in the form of a Brezlyn Schwalm trey, but Sprague got an answer from MaKenna Trussell, who drilled back-to-back treys to give the Olys a 6-3 lead. A pair of buckets by Trussell and Alyssa Meza made it a 10-5 Sprague lead, with the Olys leading 12-8 on McKay after one quarter. Picking up where she started, Schwalm hit another trey to open the second, giving her nine points on three treys and making it a 12-11 game. Meza answered with a three-point play, making it a four-point game again at 15-11. McKay closed the gap on another Schwalm trey and a Patricia Mike free throw, tying the game up at 15 apiece. Sprague would close the half on a 5-0 run fueled by Kiera Hugmeyer free throws and a three-point play by Kendrey McGath, giving the Olys a 20-15 lead at the half. Trussell led Sprague with eight points in the half, Schwalm had 12 points for the Lady Scots. Unlike the first two frames, the final two quarters would follow a script of team dominance.
McKay started off blazing in the third quarter, taking their first lead of the game on a 9-0 run led by Schwalm and Charmelina Chunga, giving them a 24-20 advantage on Sprague. Summer Melena started to warm up for the Olys, hitting a trey and another bucket to retake the lead 25-24. Melena would hit another trey to tie it at 27 each, but a Natalie Hernandez trey at the end of the quarter gave McKay a 29-28 lead after three quarters. Just like their counterparts, Sprague would find some fire in the fourth quarter. The Olys blew open their own 9-0 to begin the fourth, retaking the lead 37-29 behind Trussell’s five points. After Schwalm hit another trey to close within 36-32, Sprague shut the door on any hopes of a McKay comeback, getting a 6-0 run that ran until the last minute of the game. Their 42-32 advantage was enough for Sprague to take out McKay 43-33 to pick up their first Mountain Valley Conference win of the season.
Game Takeaways
Sprague: It wasn’t pretty, but definitely a well-earned dub over the Lady Scots. Summer Melena and MaKenna Trussell led the attack for the Olys, who have tried to find traction and an upward trend on their fortunes. Their youth is a strength to build on, but there is much to do before they find themselves in a more competitive state of affairs within their own conference and 6A at large. However, with girls like Trussell, Melena, Alyssa Meza, and others, the Olys have much to hope for the next couple of seasons.
McKay: Brezlyn Schwalm and Patricia Mike could become a hard to beat guard duo in the conference, especially if they can find a game that goes deeper on offense and defense. For the program at-large, the lack of size on the boards and turnovers plagued them against Sprague, not to mention their reluctance to shoot the ball on offense. With some high potential youth, McKay could be on the upward trend if the program can become better balanced on the floor and clean up their game on a consistent basis.
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