By MIKE ECKERT
CHARLEVOIX -- Physical play, scrappy defense and another win for Traverse City St. Francis.
The Gladiators won their sixth consecutive game on Friday with a 42-32 Lake Michigan Conference victory at Charlevoix.
St. Francis moved to 9-4 overall and 7-1 in the league. It sets up a pivotal showdown at home on Tuesday against the unbeaten and league leading Kalkaska Blazers.
"If we beat Kalkaska on Tuesday, we're tied for the conference lead," Gladiators coach Bill Bayer said. "But I told them, if we don't beat Charlevoix, Tuesday's game will be meaningless."
Friday's game saw both teams struggle offensively as the teams played to an 18-18 standstill at the break.
In the second half, St. Francis came out running with an offensive put-back from Kaitlyn Bussell, a jumper from Lyndsay LaCourse and a bucket from Keller Greiner for a 24-18 lead 90 seconds into the third quarter.
"They came out a little stronger than us and we couldn't catch them," Rayders coach Bret Erskine said. "I thought we played a good game. We played a lot harder this time. If we make some of our lay-ups, maybe it would have been a little different."
Charlevoix finished the third quarter with only five points and trailed by double digits most of the fourth.
"I believe we are the best defensive team in northern Michigan," Bayer said. "They just refuse to let other teams score. We're also pretty good at the delay game, so when we got up by 14, we got the ball back and basically ran out the last four minutes."
The closest the Rayders would come was with 90 seconds remaining when Jenna Way drove inside, made the shot and was fouled. She missed the free throw, but the play cut the Glads lead to 37-28.
From there, St. Francis was 5-for-8 from the free-throw line to seal the win.
"Charlevoix played fantastic and they pushed our kids to the limit," Bayer said.
St. Francis sophomore Cassie Williams led all scorers with 11 points while Ellen Kendziorski had eight. Bussell also had a strong game with seven points and nine rebounds.
Bussell just joined the team a couple of weeks ago after transferring to the school.
"We didn't have Kaitlyn the first time we played Kalkaska," Bayer said. "We've won six in a row and she's played in five of those six. She makes a huge difference. She has great hands and great court vision."
Madison Way led Charlevoix with eight points. The senior point guard also had five rebounds and was named winterfest queen at halftime of the boy's game.
"She's pretty scrappy," Erskine said. "She's improved the most out of all of our players this year. If the rest of the team could match her energy, we could have a chance to finish strong."
Jenna Way had seven points while Sarah Potter had six points and 10 rebounds. Lynzie Gotschall also pulled down 10 boards.
