A strong second half effort from three members of the Pioneer bench helped spark a come-from-behind 39-29 win over Saline Tuesday night.

"The big difference was our defense,” said Pioneer head coach Crystal Westfield.

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Trailing 18-14 at the half Westfield inserted three players into her lineup that don’t usually see as much playing time as others. Emily Turner, Ana Vereen and Desiree Cougill helped turn it around thanks to their speed, according to Westfield.

Turner would end up as the Pioneers leading scorer with 10 points on the night and Janese Honeycutt added eight points and 11 rebounds.

"(Honeycutt) was all over the floor,” Westfield said. "She was scoring and rebounding for us. Janese is probably our most diverse player. It's nice to be able to move her around in our offense."

With the score tied 26-26 after three quarters, Pioneer slowed the game down offensively and clamped down on defense to pull out the win in the 13-3 fourth quarter.

"We took our time on our shots,” said Westfield. "We didn't rush things and have unforced turnovers."

All seemed to be going the right way for Saline entering the half, but the Hornets couldn’t carry the momentum into the second half.

"After halftime it seemed like Pioneer did some things defensively that we couldn't handle,” said Saline coach Jeff Waltz. "It's one of those games that the girls have to find a way to win these games. That's what we're trying to do with this program. Tonight we didn't have that."

Britten Clark led Saline with 10 points but was held to just two points in the second half as Honeycutt was able to shut her down offensively.

The win helped pull Pioneer to 5-5 on the season and 3-1 in SEC Red play, while Saline dropped to 2-8 for the year and 1-3 in conference play.

MONROE 62, SKYLINE 44

Foul trouble throughout the course of the game helped keep Skyline winless in SEC Red play. The Eagles (3-8, 0-3) trailed 26-9 at halftime after picking up early fouls and struggling on the offensive end.

"We have to stay out of foul trouble. Even though we play an aggressive style of defense,” said head coach Keith Wade. "We just couldn't find the basket. We tried attacking the zone, but we couldn't get the baskets to fall."

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Victoria Norris scored 16 points to lead Skyline. She made four consecutive 3-pointers in the third quarter to keep her team in the game.

“She’s the heart and soul of this team,” said Wade. “We just couldn’t find a way to get over the hump.”

Jordan Strauss had a game-high 24 points for Monroe.

CHELSEA 59, YPSILANTI 34

Chelsea turned an 11-point halftime lead into a 30-point insurmountable deficit by otscoring Ypsilanti 20-1 in the third quarter.

"I thought we really came out in the third quarter and really played some good defense, which got Ypsi on their heels a bit," Chelsea coach Todd Blomquist said.

Mackenzie Cole had 20 points and six assists for Chelsea (10-0, 4-0 SEC White).

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"She was really efficient; she was 4-for-8 from behind the arc," Blomquist said. "She only had two turnovers and had six assists, so she really made some good decisions tonight when the ball was in her hands."

Riley Singleton had 13 points and eight rebounds and Grace Martin scored 12 for the Bulldogs. Jasmine Jones led Ypsilanti (1-8, 1-3) with 12 points.

DEXTER 36, ADRIAN 28

It wasn’t pretty, but the Dexter Dreadnaughts found a way to stay unbeaten on the year as they knocked off Adrian 36-28 Tuesday night moving to 10-0 on the year and 4-0 in conference play.

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“Once you get into league play, all the coaches know what you're trying to do,” said head coach Mike Bavineau. "We were able to do what we had to do."

Olivia Cares led the Dreads with 11 points on the night as her team struggled to get going offensively.

"We did not shoot the ball particularly well,” Bavineau said. “But we were able to get the ball inside and get some free-throw attempts in the second half."

Seven of Cares’ 11 came from the free-throw line.

The teams were tied 17-17 at the half, but Dexter was able to outscore Adrian 11-5 in the third to take a lead into the final quarter.

Kristen Montacinos led the Maples with 10 points.

YPSILANTI LINCOLN 53, TECUMSEH 49 (OT)

Lincoln overcame a seven-point deficit with 3:04 left in regulation and was able to pull off the win in overtime.

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Lincoln was ahead 32-24, at half but was outscored 11-2 in the third quarter. Tecumseh outplayed Lincoln early in the fourth, setting up the comeback.

"They have to play the game with that intensity level from start to finish and not in spurts," Lincoln coach Mike Hotchkiss said.

"It shouldn't have been that close," he said. "To be honest, we stole one from them."

Dominique Foley scored 24 and Katelyn Morris had 12 points and 14 rebounds for Lincoln (7-2, 3-1 SEC White).

"We were sloppy defensively," Hotchkiss said of the game. "They wanted it more than we did."

Mattie Wright scored 17 for Tecumseh, 0-4 in league play.

INKSTER 68, WILLOW RUN 22

Willow Run coach Kevin Van Riper knew it was going to be a tough test for his team when they faced the defending Class A state champions.

Even though his team lost in blowout fashion, he used the night to get a feel for where his club was at and where it needed to be.

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"We know we were going against a very well coached and very talented team,” Van Riper said. "It's kinda a good measuring stick for us, because we had won four games in a row."

Inkster led 51-12 at halftime and seeing the game was out of reach, Van Riper emptied his bench in order to get them some valuable playing time in case they’re needed later in the year.

"We're able to take a look at where we're at and where we want to get to,” Van Riper said.

Keya Lawsonled Willow Run (4-4) with eight points on the night while Paris McLeod had a game-high 12 points for Inkster.

GREENHILLS 48, CALVARY CHRISTIAN 20

After failing to live up to expectations defensively in its last two games, Greenhills coach Lisa Mack had her team focus on defense this week in practice. The attention to detail paid off for the Gryphons.

"(Defense) is our number one focus. That's how we have the opportunity to win games,” Mack said. "It was a really good team effort. They did a great job stepping up today."

Marissa Thompson led the way for Greenhills scoring 17 points and eight rebounds. But it was the play of point guard Jackie Oestreich that impressed Mack as she scored nine points and had five assists.

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"She had some great passes and finished at the rim tonight,” Mack said.

The Gryphons are now 6-2 and 4-1 in MIAC conference play.

Liz Caudill scored a team-high seven points for Calvary Christian.

GRASS LAKE 54, WHITMORE LAKE 26

Abby Salata led Whitmore Lake (2-8) with six points, eight rebounds and three blocks, but it wasn't enough against unbeaten Grass Lake.

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"Our turnovers killed us and once again, I'm not sure what's going on with our big girls underneath," Whitmore Lake coach Jen Taylor said, estimating her team missed 15 shots in the paint.

She also blamed "pathetic, pathetic" free-throw shooting for the margin of defeat. Whitmore Lake was 4-for-10 from the line.

"We shot 120 free throws yesterday in practice, but you wouldn't know it," Taylor said. "We looked like we hadn't shot a free throw in six years."

But, Taylor said there were positives to take away in the loss to the No. 7 ranked team in Class C.

"I was proud of my girls for running the offense as well as they could," she said. "We hung in there as long as we could against a team like Grass Lake."

Keagan Beck led Grass Lake (11-0) with 18 points and Sydney Cook scored 11.

WASHTENAW CHRISTIAN ACADMEY 47, MONCLOVA (OHIO) CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 36

Becca Grimes had 20 points and nine of Washtenaw Christian’s 21 steals to lead the way.

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Michaela Donat scored 13, Rachel Ballantyne had seven points and 10 rebounds and Kara Goss had seven points and six steals as the quartet did all the Wildcats’ scoring.

Despite the win, coach Bob Trevino said there’s work to be done.

"There are a lot of things we can take away to work on and get better at," he said. "Even though we won, it wasn't one of the most fluid games."

Coming off a poor free-throw shooting night (8-for-26) Friday against Arbor Prep, Trevino could be a little happier about his team’s 12-for-19 performance Tuesday. But he wasn’t pleased that his team scored 47 points on a night it had 21 steals.

"It's tough to say you're disappointed about a win," Trevino said. "But every time you play, you want to play at the highest level possible and I'm not sure we did that tonight."

MONDAY RESULTS
ST. MARY CATHOLIC CENTRAL 41, MILAN 20

A woeful shooting performance by Milan (2-8, 0-5 Huron) overshadowed a good defensive effort as the Big Reds scored more points from the free-throw line than from the field.

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"It wasn't like we were shooting bricks and air balls, they were rattling in and out,” said Milan head caoch Jeff Scott. "Its a good thing we shot free throws. If we didn't make those we would have walked out with five or six points,” he joked.

The Reds shot just 3-of-48 (6.25 percent) from the field and made 15 free throws in what Scott called a game like none other he had ever seen.

"Our defense was fine,” Scott said. "I was as proud of them as I could be with a loss."

Corinna Schneider had a game-high nine points for Milan in the loss and Emily Mikesell led St. Mary with eight points.

SAGINAW ARTHUR HILL 60, SALINE 53

Head coach Jeff Waltz was proud of his team’s effort Monday in a loss.

"I think we finally played four quarters of fundamental disciplined basketball and we were able to see some of the progress we've been making in a more meaningful manner,” Waltz said.

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Britten Clark scored 13 points and Kelsey Pelletier had 11, but the Hornets shot just 5-of-17 from the free-throw line in the seven-point loss.

"We hung with them throughout the entire game and gave them everything they could handle,” Waltz said. “I'm proud of our girls for that and it was a huge step forward for our program."

Compiled by Matt Durr and Jason Idalski. Coaches may submit results by calling 734-623-2565 or emailing prepsports@annarbor.com.