By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
MARTIN—Good teams find a way to win even when they don’t play their best.
That’s exactly what the Martin girls basketball squad did in its contest with Holland Black River on Friday, Dec. 8.
Despite what Clippers coach Ben Schipper viewed as a lackluster first-half effort, Martin was able to secure the 40-27 win.
The Clippers led by a razor-thin 20-18 margin at halftime.
“Black River came out and gave a great effort tonight and really pushed us,” Schipper said. “Our team lacked energy and execution in the first half and Black River took advantage of that. They took away our fast break and we did the opposite by not getting back on defense.”
The second half was much better for Martin, especially on the defensive end.
The Clippers limited Black River to three points in the third quarter and six points in the fourth quarter.
“I was really happy with the way our girls responded to our halftime talk,” Schipper said. “Defensively, we did a much better job of getting back in transition and scrambling out of it. We also put a big emphasis on taking away the drive lanes and I felt much better about that execution.
“I’m proud of the girls for grinding this one out when it just wasn’t our night.”
Martin used a 13-3 scoring edge in the third quarter to go up 33-21. Macy Thorne scored seven of those points, with Liz Reinke going for the other six.
“The two of them gave us the spark we needed,” Schipper said of Thorne and Reinke.
Makala Goddard scored 11 of her team-best 14 points in the first half. She also had six steals.
Thorne went for nine points and five rebounds, while Reinke had eight points and three steals. Avery Jager (six points, eight rebounds and three blocks), Torryn Harris (six rebounds and three points) and Alley Bacon (six rebounds) also played well.
Martin (2-0) opened the season with a convincing 61-22 win over Coloma on Tuesday, Dec. 5.
“We kicked off the season in great fashion with an excellent team win,” Schipper said. “We were very pleased with the way we executed some new areas of emphasis for our team this year. It was good to go live with our press more than we’ve been able to in practice so we can pick it apart on film.
“Our girls handled our in-game adjustments extremely well, especially for the first game of the season. We want to play much faster this year, and that was a huge positive for us tonight.”
Martin led 15-5 after one quarter, 22-11 at halftime and 47-13 after three quarters.
Goddard led the way with 18 points, six steals and six assists, with Jager and Marybeth Ritchie adding 10 points each. Jager also had five rebounds and three steals.
Harris (six points, six rebounds and four steals) and Reinke (five points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists) both had solid all-around games.
“Things went a little unplanned in the second quarter when we sat both Makala and Liz the entire quarter due to foul trouble,” Schipper said. “I’m proud of our other girls, especially our newcomers, for stepping in and playing through that adversity.
“It was a well-balanced scoring attack. I’m proud of each player as they all made an impact on the floor tonight.”