Red Devils do it!

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Red Devils do it!

East Jordan 57, Boyne City 42

Red Devils do it!

Peters rips the nets for 18, Holm hits for 12 as EJ claims district title

By Mike Dunn

CHARLEVOIX – The ride continues for the East Jordan girls.
The Red Devils, peaking at the perfect time, stormed through the Class C district tournament at Charlevoix with three straight victories, including Friday’s 57-42 victory over Boyne City in the championship game.
It was the first district title for East Jordan since 1988. The Red Devils (10-13) took on unbeaten, seventh-ranked Kalkaska (23-0) in the opening round of the regional tournament on Tuesday of this week (after this issue went to press) at Traverse City West. McBain and Lincoln Alcona faced off in the other semifinal. The finals are set for Friday at 7 p.m.
East Jordan coach Steve Hines was extremely happy with his girls’ achievements in the district tournament but not that surprised.
“We’ve been playing well,” he said. “I thought we knew what we needed to do to win going into districts and the girls followed through. It’s been a real team effort.”
The two seniors on the East Jordan roster, forward Shaina Peters and point guard Maribeth Poindexter, played key roles in the championship game. Shaina, a clutch player from all season long, came through once again, draining the nets for a team-high 18 points, including a huge momentum-swinging 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, and she also recorded six assists and five rebounds.
Poindexter, who was switched from forward to point guard by Hines this season to take advantage of her ball handling and leadership abilites, scored six with three steals, three assists and three rebounds. Remarkably, she didn’t have a single turnover against the Ramblers.
“This was a game where you expected your senior team captains to shine and Shaina and Maribeth certainly did,” Hines said. “Shaina’s just a great athlete and she has that very strong competitive drive. She hates to lose and her intensity affects everybody. Maribeth is also an excellent all-around player. We asked her to move to point guard this year and she’s gotten better and better. She’s almost like having another coach out there on the floor.”
East Jordan broke open a close game with a run late in the third quarter. Val Peters, Shaina’s freshman sister, drained a triple to help ignite the run and Shaina nailed one a few minutes later to keep it going. The Red Devils, employing a suffocating press, created more separation on the scoreboard as the game clock wore on.
“Once we got a nice run going and got a good lead, we didn’t back off,” Hines said. “Not only did our press cause some turnovers, it took them out of the rhythm of their offense.”
Junior forward Steph Holm played big inside, putting 12 points on the board, and she also dished off three assists. Grace Howes, who had the unenviable task of guarding Boyne City’s explosive Maddie Moeke, pulled down six rebounds and also notched four steals.
“Grace had the toughest assignment guarding Maddie,” Hines said. “We knew we couldn’t shut Maddie down but we did want to slow her down and Grace did a good job of that, holding her to 14 points.”
Sophomore Tanner McCune contributed three assists from the backcourt and also handled the ball well against Boyne City’s tenacious defense. Tanner, who put up a career-high 29 points in Wednesday’s semifinal victory over Mancelona, was also part of the imposing fourth-quarter press along with Val Peters and Poindexter.
Boyne City, which had beaten Harbor Springs 40-26 in the semifinals, finished the season with a 12-10 log and won nine of its last 12 games. Moeke’s 14 points paced the Ramblers against East Jordan while sweet-shooting sophomore Rachel Butler put nine on the board.
In the win over Harbor Springs, Moeke put up nine of her team-high 16 points in the first half and was an imposing presence under the boards defensively. In the second half, senior guard Sydney Gahn lit things up, scoring 10 of her 13 points with a pair of connections from beyond the arc. Butler tallied seven.
The seniors who played their final game for Boyne City and coach Jim Brown included speedy guard Amanda Welborn in addition to Moeke and Gahn.