Girl’s Basketball: Chemics kick off season with league victory

by Cory Butzin

Having returned only two players with varsity experience this year, Midland High varsity basketball coach Elaine Mahabir wasn’t exactly sure what type of team she had going into the season.

Looks like she was pleased with what she found.

The Chemics built an early lead and fought off a late charge by Bay City Central Tuesday as Midland High opened its season with a 46-35 win over the Wolves.

“At any moment I had three or more on the court that had no varsity experience,” Mahabir said. “You wonder what’s going to happen sometimes.”

Midland came out of the gates running, scoring in transition and playing solid press defense on their way to a 13-8 first quarter lead. Fouls and turnovers hurt them slightly in the second quarter, but they were still able to go into the half leading 19-16.

“We’ve had three weeks of practice and we just couldn’t really gauge where we were,” Mahabir said. “I’m pleased we could score in transition. That’s something that we haven’t been able to do in the past.”

In the second half, the Chemics continued their up-tempo style of play and opened up a sizable lead by creating turnovers and getting quick baskets in transition. By the end of the third, their lead had grown to double digits, 31-21.

Turns out, they would need every point they could get to hold off a furious fourth quarter charge by the Wolves.

“At one point, we kind of tried to slow down the offense,” Mahabir said. “We were doing nothing and that was not working.”

Meanwhile, Central was lighting it up as Megan Charlebois turned it up on her way to 13 points and the Wolves dropped several threes to narrow the gap.

“At the varsity level, teams are going to make runs,” Mahabir said. “We know if we get up by ten, it’s going to come and you’ve got to be able to stop that train when it gets there.”

The Lady Chemics did just that, hitting some clutch free throws and making some key stops to hold on for the league win.

“There have been years where I’ve been halfway through the season and not had a Valley win,” Mahabir said. “To start the season with a win and a Valley win with young kids, it’s a good feeling. There are obvious things to work on, but we’ve got to enjoy this right now.”

Jessica Jarema led the way for the Chemics with 15 points while Dani Blake and Lauren Haines scored 10 and 9 points, respectively.

The Chemics will return to action Friday when they play the Hawks of Saginaw Heritage. Game time is schedule for 7:30 p.m.

For more photos from Tuesday’s game click on “Photo Slideshow” in the top right corner of this article.

Photos by Jason Wolverton & Cory Butzin