YATES CENTER — Marmaton Valley’s Janae Granere dominated the Wildcats’ matchup against Crest on Thursday. Granere scored early and often on her way to a 35-point night in a 52-27 win for the Marmaton Valley girls.
The Marmaton Valley defense was on it from the tip-off and did not relent. The Wildcats capitalized on the turnovers and turned them into an early lead. Marmaton Valley attacked the rim and was physically dominant, bullying the Lancers around in the paint and grabbing rebound after rebound on the defensive end to take away from Crest’s offensive possessions.
Crest tried to drive to the hoop but the Marmaton Valley defense would not let them.
Even when Marmaton Valley missed, the Wildcats got second chances, rebounding much better than Crest.
At the half, Marmaton Valley led 34-16.
The second half started off great for Crest, a Lindsey Godderz three-pointer helped the Lancers gain momentum as they strived to get back into the game. Crest’s defense improved by miles in the second half and started to hold Marmaton Valley down but not for long as Granere took control. Crest played much better in the second half but it was not enough to stop the onslaught of offense from Granere and the Wildcats.
Marmaton Valley did not allow Crest to score in double digits in any quarter as the Wildcat defense suffocated the Lancers all afternoon.
The win is the 499th in the career of Marmaton Valley head coach Becky Carlson. Carlson, a Moran native, took over at the beginning of last season after 15 years at Iola, including a state title in 2005-2006.
“I couldn’t do it without my team,” Granere said of her monster performance. “We come to practice every day ready to work. My team helps me improve a lot. They look to me to be open, it’s a team effort.”
In addition to Granere’s 35 points, Aly Ard scored 10. Payton Scharff, Kendall Scharff, and Brynn Newman each scored two. Tayven Sutton scored one.
Crest was led by McKenna Hammond and Curston Allen with seven each. Lindsey Godderz scored five. Haylee Beckmon scored four. Kayla Hermreck and Vivian Noah each had two.
