#2 seed West Lyon goes against #3 seed Ballard in the 3:15 semifinal Thursday. The winner gets a spot in the 3A title game Friday night.
West Lyon did the sure thing in its Class 3A quarterfinal. The Wildcats got the ball to Brooklyn Meyer and let the 6-foot-2 senior go to work. Meyer, who has signed with the University of South Dakota, scored twice in the game’s first 49 seconds and finished with 21 points to lead second-seeded West Lyon past seventh-seeded Roland-Story 38-23 to wrap up the first day of the 2022 state tournament back on Monday.
Gianna Klarenbeek added nine points for the Wildcats (24-1), who are trying to get back to the championship game after falling to nearby rival Unity Christian in last year’s final. Their only loss this season has been to Harrisburg, S.D., in late January.
Roland-Story (19-6) made it back to state in a year the Norsemen’s 1972 team is being honored for its title 50 years ago, but struggled to find their shooting touch and had no one to match up with Meyer.
The right-handed Meyer often went effectively to her left for layups and ended up 8-for-17 from the field and 5-for-6 on free throws. She also blocked three shots and grabbed three rebounds.
Roland-Story led only once, at 10-9 when Madison Geise hit a 3-pointer with 56 seconds left in the first quarter. West Lyon quickly regained the lead with an 8-0 run spanning the quarter break and answered the only time the Norsemen got close.
The Norsemen missed all seven of their shots in the third quarter and West Lyon outscored them 12-1 in the period to take control. The Wildcats led 34-21 after three quarters, then got four quick points from Meyer at the start of the fourth quarter and coasted from there.
After winning the Class 4A championship a year ago, Ballard is a step closer to another title this time as a 3A school. The third-seeded Bombers played lockdown defense and spread out their scoring in beating sixth-seeded Center Point-Urbana 43-29 to start Day 2 of the 2022 state tournament on Tuesday morning.
Ballard (22-3) dominated the second half after trailing 21-19 at halftime, holding the Stormin’ Pointers to just two field goals and eight points over the final two quarters. That effort sent the Bombers into a semifinal against second-seeded West Lyon at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday.
Paige Noe led the balanced Ballard scoring with 11 points and Lilly Hillebrand scored nine all during a third-quarter spurt that gave the Bombers the lead. Playmaker Brooke Loewe had seven points, five assists and six steals for Ballard. As a team Ballard had 16 steals in all and forced 23 turnovers.
Hillebrand’s third quarter outburst helped Ballard take control. She converted a three-point play and buried a 3 from the top of the key to put the Bombers ahead to stay at 25-23. Another Hillebrand 3 from the top of the key, started an 11-1 run that pushed the lead to 36-24 with 4:41 left. Center Point-Urbana never recovered and Ballard finished it off with free throws to move on to a Thursday afternoon semifinal.
