THUNDER BAY – Jon Kreiner loves it when a plan comes together.
The Lakehead Thunderwolves coach said he told his troops ahead of Saturday’s rematch with the visiting Algoma Thunderbirds that he wanted his two post players, Leashja Grant and Lily Gruber-Schulz, to finish up as the team’s top two scorers.
He got his wish.
Grant, who formerly played NCAA women’s basketball, topped all players with 26 points – completing a double-double with 11 rebounds. Gruber Schulz, an import from Grand Marais, Minn., collected 17 points before leaving with a minor head injury late in the fourth.
“It was nice to see,” said Kreiner, after the Thunderwolves downed the Thunderbirds 87-65.
“Lily’s developing as a player and we want to get her rebounding the ball a bit more than she did today, but that will come.”
Grant said getting inside is important.
“It’s something we practiced all week and we were able execute it. We had a few bad passes, but we didn’t let that affect the outcome,” Grant said.
The success of Grant and Gruber-Schulz in the paint opens up the floor for the Thunderwolves, creating wide open chances for the likes of Bridget O’Reilly, Nikki Ylagan and Kielly McDonough, who love to shoot from beyond the arc.
McDonough drained three three-pointers for a nine-point day, while Ylagan dropped a pair and O’Reilly a single trey.
Knowing they’ve got a double-edge offence also means less panic with the ball, Kreiner said.
“We’re taking the shots we should shoot, as opposed to forcing the shots, so that part of our game is good. Defensively though, we had some lulls.”
After jumping in front by 30 in the third, the Wolves took their foot off the pedal and the Thunderbirds took advantage, going on a 13-1 run to end the quarter down 67-49.
They’d close to within 15 early in the fourth, but back-to-back threes by McDonough and Ylagan stretched it to 22 and put the contest out of reach.
“I thought in the second half we came out with more energy. We pushed the ball and tried to move the ball. We didn’t get a great start in the third quarter, but we picked it up at the end,” said Ylagan, one of several Thunderwolves battling the injury bug this preseason.
Jamerka Martin led Algoma with 17 points, with Sydney Resch the only other Thunderbirds player to crack double digits, barely getting there with 10 points.
The Wolves, who head to Winnipeg next weekend for more pre-season play, open the OUA season on Oct. 27 in Kingston against Queen’s.
