By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
GOBLES—The Simpson sisters provided quite a one-two punch for the Saugatuck girls basketball team in its SAC divisional game against Gobles on Friday, Dec. 8.
Senior Brook Simpson and freshman Mylah Simpson each scored 16 points to lead the Trailblazers to the convincing 55-20 victory.
The win was the second straight to open the season for Saugatuck, which upended South Haven 58-46 on Tuesday, Dec. 5.
Kennedy Gustafson recorded her second double-double in two games, going for 13 points and 14 rebounds against Gobles.
And as pleased as he was with the Simpson sisters’ offensive exploits, Saugatuck coach Kevin Tringali was equally pleased with their defensive effort.
“Our defensive effort was very good tonight,” he said. “Mylah, Brook and Penny (Grob) really bothered (Gobles’) guards on every possession.”
The Saugatuck defense was particularly stout in the second half. The Trailblazers limited the Tigers to just four combined points in the third and fourth quarters.
“Our on-ball defense really stifled Gobles all game,” Tringali said.
In the season-opener against South Haven, Gustafson was the offensive star.
In addition to snagging 11 rebounds, Gustafson went for a career-high 32 points.
“Kennedy had a career night and scored in all different ways as she was running the floor, hitting 3’s and, of course, doing damage on the block.”
Brook Simpson, who was playing in a high school game for the first time since suffering an injury during her sophomore season at Belding, added 15 points.
“Brook had a very efficient game at point guard with only two turnovers,” Tringali said. “It was great to see her out there. She’s worked so hard to get back and will only continue to get better as the season goes on.”
Saugatuck took a 13-9 lead after one quarter and continued to steadily build on that lead throughout the game. The Trailblazers were up 27-16 at halftime and 44-34 entering the final frame.
South Haven narrowed the gap to 47-43 late in the fourth quarter, but Saugatuck responded with a 11-3 run during the game’s final two minutes.
“I’m very proud of our effort tonight,” Tringali said. “We played a tough team and kept our composure when (the Rams) made their runs.”