Blazers fall to P-W in regional semis

By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
GRANDVILLE—All things, no matter how good, must eventually come to an end.
For the Saugatuck girls basketball team, the end came in a Division 3 regional semifinal on Monday, March 10.
Taking on top-ranked and unbeaten Pewamo-Westphalia, the Trailblazers were simply over-matched in dropping the 51-23 decision.
The loss snapped a 17-game winning streak for Saugatuck, which ended the season at 22-2. It was the second-straight 20-win campaign for the Trailblazers.
“We got taken to the woodshed tonight,” Saugatuck coach Kevin Tringali said. “We haven’t faced a team like that. They were so fundamental offensively and took away gaps defensively. And they bottled up our guards, which is really difficult to do. That is a testament to their coaching staff being prepared.”
Those aforementioned guards—juniors Tali Laskowski and Penny Grob and sophomore Mylah Simpson—have led the postseason charge for Saugatuck as star post player Kennedy Gustafson has been sidelined with an injury.
Simpson finished with a team-best nine points, while Laskowski and Grob had five points each.
“We prepared for what each of the three guards could do,” P-W coach Steve Eklund said. “We had girls take on the challenge of guarding them one-on-one, and we did a really nice job with our help defense.
“They didn’t have a good look at the basket all night long.”
P-W wasted no time in setting the tone for the game, jumping out to a 16-1 lead after one quarter. By halftime, Saugatuck’s deficit stood at 25-5.
While disappointed with the outcome of this game, Tringali said the season was about more than one game.
“We had a lot to be proud of this year, winning a conference and a district and being undefeated at home,” he said. “This loss doesn’t define this group.”
And with Simpson, Laskowski and Grob all back next season, the future continues to look bright from the Trailblazers.
“The last few years, the bar of our program has risen,” Tringali said. “A couple years ago, when we made it to regionals, we were just happy to be there. But this year, I felt like we were one of the top two teams in regionals.
“We are at our highest point since I’ve been here. There’s a lot of excitement.”