Bethany Christian edges Faith Christian to reach MACS Final Four for eighth straight season
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
TROY — Troy Bethany Christian has found a new method to winning in the Michigan Association of Christian Schools Division I girls basketball tournament: The Bruins are relying on stingy defense.
Although a staple in recent years, Bethany Christian has had to dig deep without the ball to stymie opponents, as it is not as equipped offensively this season as in past years. That happened again Monday for the Bruins.
Although no players reached double figures, Bethany Christian still edged Clinton Township Faith Christian 28-27 in the sectional finals of the MACS tourney to advance to the Final Four for the eighth straight season.
Bethany Christian (12-3) will face Carson City Fellowship Baptist in a 6 p.m. state semifinal this Friday at Lake Orion Baptist. Faith Christian finished the season 11-4.
We’ve spread it around a lot better this year,” admitted veteran coach Tom Hagpihl. “The past several years, we’ve had some very good offensive players to go to. This year we’ve had Sarah Bishop or Leanna Sprankle led us, but they are not scoring over (20 points) a game.”
Bishop, a freshman, scored eight and Sprankle, a sophomore, added six points for the Bruins. Defensively, Bethany Christian held Faith Christian’s Emily Hinsenkamp to only 14 points, and Hinsenkamp was the leading scorer in the regular season in the Fundamental Baptist Athletic Conference Red Division.
“I think if you can contain Hinsenkamp, plus Stephanie Zimmer is a pretty good player, then you can shut them down,” offered Hagspihl. “You have to keep Hinsenkamp off the boards and don’t let her get points in transition. She’s a good player. But if you can shut those two players down, then you can beat them. I thought we did a nice job containing them.”
Bethany Christian led throughout much of the contest and the Bruins held a four-point advantage inside 10 seconds before Zimmer nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the deficit down to one point.
Bethany Christian finished second in the league this year, while Faith Christian was third.
I’m pleased with the girls. We start three sophomores and a freshman right now,” admitted Hagspihl, who said that this is one of his younger teams. “We don’t have a go-to player, but we have different players capable of stepping up in each game. We play good defense, too, and that helps a lot.”
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Category: Oxford, Prep Wraps, Troy Bethany Christian, Troy Christian Leadership Acadamy
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