Marine City girls basketball grinds past Algonac, advances to district final

Brenden Welper, Port Huron Times Herald

March 3, 2022 at 12:25 PM·3 min read

MARSYVILLE — While the Marine City girls basketball team struggled to find a rhythm, it still found a way to win. And that's all that matters at this point in the season.

The Mariners led wire-to-wire and defeated Algonac, 38-24, in a Division 2 district semifinal at Marysville High School on Wednesday.

Laylah Comment and Josalyn Dietlin scored 10 points apiece for Marine City, which improved to 16-4 and advanced to Friday's district final against Marysville. The Muskrats finished the season at 10-11 and were led by Ella Stephenson's 10 points.

"Algonac always plays us very tough," Marine City coach Jeff Austin said. "Hats off to them. They're very physical and they scrapped harder than we did tonight. I just think, top to bottom, we're a little bit more talented and we were able to come out on top."

Comment opened the scoring on a pair of free throws. Algonac's Kayla D'Eath (five points) responded with a quick layup. Then Dietlin got on the board with a floater. The Muskrats tied it once more with a layup from Stephenson.

But that was the last time the game would be knotted up. Marine City closed the period on a 9-0 run to take control. Dietlin sparked it with a layup. Jade Blanchard (nine points, six rebounds) added a free throw, Mackenzie LaBuhn (seven points) followed with a jumper and the two capped the run with a pair of transition layups.

Marine City's Josalyn Dietlin jumps for a layup attempt during Marine City's 38-24 win over Algonac in a district semifinal at Marysville High School on Wednesday, March 2, 2022.

The Muskrats didn't score again until Stephenson made a foul shot with 4:54 left in the second quarter. It was a testament to the Mariners' defense.

"I thought our team really tried hard on defense," Marine City guard Isabella Volkman said. "We didn't play our best today, but we still kept the effort high and came out with a win."

Marine City held a 20-7 advantage at halftime. That lead swelled to 16, as a pair of free throws from Janie Ferrone (five rebounds) made it a 27-11 game.

Stephenson countered with a 6-0 run of her own early in the fourth quarter. She hit a floater in the lane, added a fast-break layup and banked in a short jumper.

"When we don't make shots consistently, it effects (our) defense to be honest with you," Austin said. "Uncharacteristically, we got beat by a lot of back cuts. Obviously, Algonac had seen something that they wanted to expose — they did a pretty good job of it."

But when it came time to get stops down the stretch, Marine City kept the Muskrats at bay.

Algonac's Ella Stephenson drives to the basket during Marine City's 38-24 win over Algonac in a district semifinal at Marysville High School on Wednesday, March 2, 2022.

"We played hard even when things weren't going the best way," Dietlin said. "We were looking for our open (teammates) every time we would drive, dump it to the open person and get an easy layup. I think that's what a good team does."

And the Mariners will need to do it again when they face Marysville, which had a few lulls of its own on Wednesday.

"(Marysville) went through the same stretch tonight that we did where things weren't going so well and then you give up a few buckets," Austin said. "We talked to the girls about that in the locker room. It's a different atmosphere. It's districts.

"I would love to see both teams have their best games of the year on Friday — for the girls, for the fans and for everybody. That's what it's all about."

"We just need to play our game," Volkman said. "If we play our game we can beat anybody."

Contact Brenden Welper at bwelper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendenWelper.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Marine City grinds past Algonac, advances to district final

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