By TODD FERTIG
TopSports.news
The Silver Lake girls, ranked atop the Class 3A field statewide, bolted to a 9-0 lead and never looked back at Rossville Tuesday, steamrolling the Lady Dawgs, 71-31.
Junior Savanah Wende scored a game-high 25 points with five three-pointers in Silver Lake's 71-31 win over Rossville. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Savanah Wende dropped in five three-pointers and scored 25 points to lead Silver Lake. She scored 10 points in the first period, which saw the Lady Eagles take a commanding 23-9 advantage.
Silver Lake increased its lead to 41-20 at halftime. The Lady Eagles then outscored Rossvile 25-8 in the third period to put the game away.
“I’m really proud of our effort over the 32 minutes,” said Silver Lake coach Kyle Porter. “Especially because last time we played (against Rossville), in the third quarter, we let them go on a little run, made the game much closer. I’m really happy with our approach in the third and fourth quarter.”
Senior Kailyn Hanni scored 23 points in Silver Lake's 71-31 win over Rossville Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Silver Lake senior Kailyn Hanni scored 23 points, and sophomore Karys Deiter added 16 in support of Wende’s 25.
“Savanah, when she’s on, she just adds another dimension,” Porter said. “We’re going to need her to score and to hit open threes for us. She’s a player who always thinks the next shot is going in and I think you saw that tonight.”
“I feel like we’ve been playing great together lately, and I’m just trusting in my teammates and they got me the ball tonight, so props to everyone, really,” Wende said. “I feel like when I get hot, I just bring a positive energy that my teammates build upon to just make them better.”
Senior Rylee Dick scored 16 points in Rossville's 71-31 win loss to Silver Lake Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Rossville was frustrated into 12-43 shooting by the Silver Lake defense. Rylee Dick and Nora Burdiek combined for 26 points for the Lady Dawgs, but did so on just 10-36 shooting.
“Defensively, we played really connected, being able to do some things to limit (Burdiek) and (Dick),” Porter said. “I really want to credit Paige Heiman’s defense in the post and then Kylie Hanni, what we asked her to do with post doubles was phenomenal in taking away (Burdiek). Those are two unsung players that deserve a lot of credit for tonight.”
Silver Lake improved to 19-1, 10-0 in the Big East League with three games remaining in the regular season.
SILVER LAKE GIRLS 71, ROSSVILLE 31
Silver Lake 23 18 25 5 -- 71
Rossville 9 11 8 3 -- 31
Silver Lake (19-1, 10-0) – Ka. Hanni 9-17 4-4 23, Heiman 1-1 0-0 2, Ky. Hanni 0-3 0-0 0, Deiter 5-12 6-8 16, Wende 9-16 2-2 25, Thompson 0-0 1-2 1, Erb 1-1 0-0 2, May 0-1 0-0 0, Gerber 0-0 0-0 0, Erb 0-0 0-0 0, Eisenbarth 1-1 0-0 2, Tamaat 0-0 0-0 0, Wise 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-52 13-16 71.
Rossville (11-9, 4-7) – Dick R. 6-23 2-4 16, M. Sanders 0-1 1-2 1, Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Burdiek 4-13 1-4 10, Miller 2-4 0-0 4, E. Sanders 0-0 0-0 0, Bunck 0-0 0-0 0, Perine 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 0-2 0-0 0, Hubbell 0-0 0-0 0, Donovan 0-0 0-0 0, P. Dick 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 12-43 4-10 31.
3-point goals – Silver Lake 6 (Wende 5, Ka. Hanni 1), Rossville 3 (Dick 2, Burdiek 1). Total fouls – Silver Lake 7, Rossville 11. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
