By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Silver Lake’s 21-8 run in the third quarter was the boost that the Lady Eagles needed in Friday night’s 68-46 victory at Rossville.
Silver Lake extended its winning streak against Rossville to 10 games with Friday night’s Mid-East League victory.
Despite holding the No. 1 ranking in Class 3A, Silver Lake has one of the youngest teams in the Mid-East League.
Out of the 17 girls on the roster, only one player is a senior. Yet, the Eagles play a veteran-like style of basketball.
Leading the youthful squad is the sophomore trifecta of McKinley Kruger, Kaibryn Kruger and Makenzie McDaniel, which continued its success with solid performances against Rossville.
Kaibryn Kruger led Silver Lake with 19 points, while McKinley Kruger added 14 and McDaniel 13 points.
Silver Lake's McKinley Kruger takes the ball up the court Friday night as Rossville's Caylee Douglas plays defense. The top-ranked Eagles took a 68-46 win over the rival Bulldawgs. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
Kaibryn Kruger knocked down five 3-pointers to provide a spark for the Eagless.
“I’ve been working on my three’s and building confidence in myself throughout the season,” said Kaibryn Kruger. “I feel like that not just me, but the team is becoming who we want to be when we shoot. We are in a good rhythm.”
Although Silver Lake won by a sizeable margin, the game was close in the first half. Rossville was just two points away from a tie and the Lady Dawgs had the lead three times in the first half.
“The first half, credit to Rossville, (they) made us pay,” said Eagle coach Kyle Porter.
The morale and swagger of the Lady Eagles were flipped by a McKinley Kruger 3-point buzzer-beater going into the locker room at halftime. The mood from that point changed.
A barrage of 3-pointers by the Lady Eagles in the third quarter made it impossible for Rossville to catch up.
Coach Porter wanted the girls to take more high-quality shots in the second half and do it quickly.
“We talked a lot in the locker room about taking better shots,” Porter said. “We settled into too many bad shots in the first half which gave (Rossville) the upper hand. In the second half, we didn’t settle. We attacked the paint much better, played tougher and took better shots.”
Any momentum that the Lady Dawgs did have disappeared after Silver Lake’s 21-8 run in the third.
After playing its third game of the week, Silver Lake will get some much-needed rest. They will have six days off before they hit the road to take on Royal Valley.
“We’re going to learn from the games we played in this week,” said Porter. “There are plenty of things for us to get better at. We have things to get better at on both sides of the ball. We are looking forward to a good four days of practice.”
Rossville will look to bounce back with a win on Tuesday against Wabaunsee. They defeated the Lady Chargers back on February 4th.
SILVER LAKE GIRLS 68, ROSSVILLE 46
Silver Lake 16 11 21 20 – 68
Rossville 12 13 8 13 – 46
Silver Lake (15-1) -- Farmer 3 0-0 6, McDaniel 6 1-5 13, K. Kruger 6 2-2 19, M. Kruger 5 2-2 14, Ross 3 0-2 6, Deiter 3 1-2 8, Menhert 0 1-2 1, Brewster 0 1-2 1.
Rossville (9-8) – Perine 4 0-0 8, Douglas 2 2-4 6, Mitchell 5 3-3 13, Porter 2 2-4 8, Gillum 2 1-2 6, Haehn 2 0-0 4, Rezac 0 1-2 1.
3-point goals – Silver Lake 8 (K. Kruger 5, M. Kruger 2, Deiter), Rossville 3 (Porter 2, Gillum). Total fouls – Silver Lake 16, Rossville 17. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
