SHELBY – A pair of freshmen keyed Shelby’s girls basketball team to a 44-29 non-conference clobbering of Wyoming Potter’s House Christian (WPHC) Tuesday, Jan. 14.
It was another night of dominance for Jayna Burmeister as she continued to show growth as the Tigers’ lead woman in her first year of varsity basketball. Burmeister finished the night with a double-double, the sixth time she’s done so in the Tigers’ first nine games of the season – scoring 19 points and bringing in 12 rebounds.
Burmeister’s scoring was paramount to a 12-8 Shelby lead at the end of the first quarter. Scoring six in that initial frame, Burmeister was able to carry the load with help from junior Kylie Brown. Brown added four points of her own, but was far more critical on the defensive end where she notched multiple steals that started fast breaks for the Tigers.
A second quarter lull on offense allowed WPHC to remain within arm’s length by the time the halftime buzzer sounded. An initial stream of points on free throws and drives to the basket from Burmeister and sophomore Lydia Soelberg had Shelby’s lead sitting at 19-8. The Pumas found enough momentum to close out the half with five unanswered points to close the gap to 21-15.
New faces emerged for Shelby’s offense in the second half as Burmeister cooled off. Freshmen Michelle Peterson and Ava Lamberg each got their offense going in the third quarter. A lone basket for Peterson broke up a string of fouls that got WPHC to the free throw line, while Lamberg finished the quarter with six straight points to give Shelby a double-digit lead heading into the fourth.
With the finish line in sight, Shelby leaned heavily on their defense to close out the game. Lamberg and Burmeister each got to the bucket to keep the offense on track, but the Tiger’s ability to force tough shots led to just two made shots from the field in the fourth quarter for the Pumas to end the night.
Lamberg scored 10 points to follow Burmeister’s top scoring output. Freshman Annabelle Stark and Brown added six rebounds each to the winning effort.
The Tigers (8-1, 5-1 WMC Rivers) pushed their win streak to seven, the longest such streak that the program has seen since Jenny Beckman was suiting up during the 2017-18 season.
Shelby’s girls will play their third of four-straight games at home when Muskegon Catholic Central enters the Tigers’ den Thursday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m.