Lady Bronchos fall to Clio

#phocagallerypiclens 3-phocagallerypiclenscode-Sports-Outdoors/bronchos and clio cover crop.jpg

Holly's Allyssa Copley is houn...

CLIO, Michigan - With Holly coming in at 9-1 and Clio at 7-2 in Flint Metro League play, this was a big game for both teams. Each team hoped to keep close to league leading Lapeer West (10-1) but it was the Mustangs cruising at the end to win this one, 47-37.

The Bronchos came out strong to start, especially on the defensive end, but failed to convert on several easy looks at the basket in the first quarter. Holly’s six foot sophomore Allyssa Copley had five rebounds and five steals in the first quarter alone.

However, Holly had cold streaks on the offensive end not only at the start, but also during the last two and one-half minutes of the game when Clio used a 10-0 run to close it out for the final margin.

Holly coach David Hall was disappointed with the result but not with his team’s effort. “We just want to keep playing one game at a time,” said Hall. “Our girls played with great effort and I am really proud of them.”

Trailing 18-10 at the half, Holly used two three-pointers from senior Lauren Maher in the third quarter to help Holly keep the game relatively close, still trailing by eight after three quarters. Then in the fourth, Maher hit another three to go with two threes from senior Kayla Skopek and Holly suddenly had tied the game at 37 with 2:45 left.

“We stumbled a little bit early but we kept playing through it,” said Maher.

Copley again showed why she is one of the best players in the Flint Metro League. The Holly center finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds, six steals and two blocks.

Clio, after being in the very tough Flint-area Big Nine for decades, has now been in the Flint Metro League for five years and the Holly girls have yet to beat them. A lot of that has to do with talent.

Led by juniors Allison Kitchen and Breanna Pennington, Clio continues to be a top contender in the league. Both girls tallied 19 points, including two on a driving layup by Pennington after Skopek hit the second of her two threes to tie the game. After the Bronchos tied it at 37 it looked like it might finally be Holly’s night, but Clio showed a lot of poise to close it out and come away with win, despite 14 steals from the Holly defense.

Combined with five points from sophomore Cara Horst, the Clio underclasswomen scored 43 out of the Mustang’s total 47 points. A strong Clio girls’ basketball program looks like it is here to stay for a while.

Maher finished with nine points. Skopek had eight along with three steals.

Holly, however, still controls its own destiny with a home game yet to come against league leader Lapeer West. Holly falls to11-3 overall.

The Bronchos host Brandon on Friday.

Clio improved its overall record to 9-5.


HOLLY  
Kayla Skopek             3    0-0      8
Lauren Maher            3    0-0     9
Brooke Harthun         0    0-0     0
Delaney Serra            2    1-2     5
Allyssa Copley            5    3-5    13
Jessica Beeler            0    0-0     0
Miayan Kerner            0    0-0     0
Abby Lewandowski     1    0-0      2

Three-pointers: Maher 3, Skopek 2
Rebounds: Copley 10, Serra 3, Harthun 2, Maher 2, Beeler1, Skopek 1

Holly          3     7    14    13    =    37
Clio            6    12    14    15    =   47