Hellgate Girls Bring Home Third Place Hardware

For the Class AA girls consolation game at the 2019 MHSA state basketball tournament it would be an all western conference showing with Hellgate taking on the Capital Lady Bruins and girls from Hellgate would take home the third place hardware with a

To start the game Hellgate would pull down the jump ball, but it was not until their second posession that Hellgate put points on the board. For the Lady Bruins it would not be until the 6:04 mark of the first quarter that points would go up as Capital hit a three pointer. The Lady Bruins struggled to control the ball as Capital would turn the ball over five times in the opening minutes of the game. It was the long ball that kept the Lady Bruins close in the opening quarter as Capital would knock down three of their five shots nbeyonfd the arc.

At the begining of the second quarter the Lady Bruins capitalized on Hellgate’s mistates as Capital would creep within a point from the free throw line in thier first two possessions of the second quarter. Hellgate freshman Bailee Sayler knocked down a three pointer to get the ball rolling for Hellgate in the second quarter as the girls picked up the Capital turnover bug from the first quarter. With just under three minutes left in the half Hellgate would find the bottm of the bucket with Sayler hitting a pair of three pointers to put Hellgate up by seven at the half.

Capital recieved the ball to start the second half, opening the quarter scoring on a three pointer. Hellgate got on the baord two minutes into the second half when Sayler went to the line, sparking a 6-0 run by the girls from Hellgate over the next three minutes. The Lady Bruins were able to break the tide with a shot from long distance, but Hellgate kept the presure up offensively to stay ahead of the Lady Bruins. Emma Blakeley would make it a ten point game with a shot from beyond the arc with 61 seconds left in the third quarter.

Down to start the final quarter Capital sinked a jumper to try and spark a run but the Hellgate defense limited opportunities for quality shots for the Lady Bruins. Up by 11 points Hellgate continued to push the ball offensively with designed plays to drive the ball at the basket off the pick, giving the Hellgate ball handlers open runs on the back side. With a 13 point lead with 1:27 left in the game Emma Blakeley knocked down a three pointer that put an exclamation point on the Hellgate girl’s lead as Hellgate cruised to thier final win of the season.