PRESS CONTACT:
Irene Borak
Director of Public Relations
10775 N. St. Helen Road
Roscommon, MI 48653
(989) 275-5000 ext. 242
ROSCOMMON – Chelsey Williams, Kirtland’s 6’1” freshman center from Houghton Lake, was the muscle behind the Lady Firebirds’ 65-59 win over the Macomb Community College Monarchs on Saturday, Jan. 7, at the CRAF Center in Roscommon. Williams dominated the Firebirds’ near-basket region, topping Kirtland’s scoring column with 15 points, and pulling down a team-high 13 rebounds in the ladies’ first home game since mid-December.
The win brought the Lady Firebirds’ season record to 9-7 overall (2-0 in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association), which includes a win and a loss taken in a Florida tournament over the New Year holiday weekend, and a win in their conference season opener against Henry Ford Community College (Dearborn) on Wednesday, Jan. 4.
Their schedule has kept the Lady Firebirds in good shape as they advance into their conference schedule, but that didn’t help in the shooting department in Saturday’s game against Macomb. Both teams had to work to pry the lids off the baskets, with Kirtland shooting an abysmal 28 percent from the field and Macomb coming in only slightly better at 29 percent.
The Firebirds simply opened up more opportunities on offense, especially by getting the ball inside to Williams. Lizz Stempki (freshman, St. Ignace), Rena Barnett (freshman, LeRoy) and Emilee Bruner (sophomore, Mio) also sank double digits for the Firebirds. Stempki scored 14 points, including 4 out of 5 free throws; Barnett added 10 points and 4 assists; and Bruner scored 10 points and added 8 rebounds.
“Emilee continued to show her all-around improvement tonight and helped to carry us while we struggled early on,” said Firebirds head coach Teresa Stuck.
The Firebirds did struggle, but managed to end the half in the lead at 37-35.
Natalie Foster (freshman, Houghton Lake) hit some big buckets at crucial times in the second half, scoring 6 points overall. Scoring was rounded out by Onica Jones (freshman, Rochester, N.Y.) with 4 points, and Emily Henion (freshman, Frederic), Shekira Knowles (freshman, Nassau, Bahamas) and Nadia Blake (freshman, Toronto) each adding 2 points.
The Saturday game saw the debut of the Firebirds’ two freshman basketball players who hail from Nassau, the capital city of the Bahamas. Both Shekira Knowles and Evalyn Bain saw some productive floor time after being ineligible to play their first semester at Kirtland.
Mattie Taylor, a sophomore from Clinton Township, had a big game for Macomb, scoring 31 – more than half – of her team’s points and scrapping out a whopping 24 rebounds.
“We really need to work on defense against the gunner for the other team,” said Stuck. “We are consistently giving our opponent’s best player their career game – we must find a defensive stopper. Although we have done a good job on everyone else, in big games that get close, we need to establish a go-to defender.”
The Firebirds continue their conference schedule Monday, Jan. 9, on the road at Wayne County Community College. They follow this with two home games – on Wednesday, Jan. 11, against Mott Community College (5:30 p.m. game time), and on Saturday, Jan. 14, against St. Clair County Community College (1 p.m.). Home games are played at the CRAF Center in Roscommon. Admission is free.
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KCC 98, Henry Ford CC 73
In their first conference game of the season, against Henry Ford Community College, the Lady Firebirds found the offense they’d lost over the holiday break and came away with a 98-73 win. The Wednesday, Jan. 4, game was played on the road in Dearborn.
“We jumped out to a lead and never looked back,” said Firebirds head coach Stuck. “We were very aggressive and confident in our decision making.”
All the Firebirds score in this game, with Emilee Bruner posting one of the best games of her career. Rena Barnett and Emily Henion did a great job of breaking down the press which Henry Ford worked on the Firebirds for a full 40 minutes. Lizz Stempki, Chelsey Williams and Onica Jones helped dominate the paint, all scoring in double digits.
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KCC 52, Hillsborough CC (Tampa, Fla.) 46
KCC 50, St. Petersburg College (St. Petersburg, Fla.) 68
Lizz Stempki scored 15 points for the Firebirds in their 52-46 Dec. 30 win over Hillsborough Community College when the Firebirds to took the road to play in Tampa, Fla. They followed their win over Hillsborough with a 68-50 loss to St. Petersburg College (Fla.) on Dec. 31.
Against Hillsborough, Stempki added 14 rebounds to her double-digit scoring, while Emily Henion scored 10 points, forwarded 9 assists and came away with 4 steals.
“Our defense won us this game,” said Firebirds head coach Teresa Stuck. “Offensively, you could tell these were our first games back from break – we missed several lay-ups and easy shots in the first game and didn’t shoot confidently in the second game. We rebounded tremendously well, however, with everyone boxing out.”
Against St. Petersburg in their second game, the Firebirds were up 31-30 at half time, but gave the game away in the second half.
“Not only did we give up 19 offensive rebounds but they went on a (scoring ) run and we couldn’t stop it,” Stuck noted. “We were playing against a sophomore-laden team and during that run our youth was exploited.”
Stempki was again high scorer with 11 points, followed by Henion with 9.
“Overall this road trip was tremendous from a team-unity standpoint,” Stuck said. “Nothing could compare to this trip and what it has done for our team in bringing us together.”