SHELBY — Mason County Central’s girls basketball team learned some lessons from its first defeat of the season last Thursday against Hart.
The Spartans moved on quickly, posting a convincing victory in their very next game five days later.
Despite a bit of a slow start, Mason County Central got it rolling in a 50-24 victory over host Shelby Tuesday night in the CatchMark SportsNet West Michigan Conference Game of the Week.
Mason County Central improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the WMC Rivers Division, one game behind Hart, which defeated MCC on the Spartans’ home court, 54-38.
Shelby is now 5-5 overall and 4-2 in the WMC Rivers.
Here are more details and notables from the MCC-Shelby game:
MCC sophomore guard Mallory Miller led all scorers with 13 points to go with five assists and three steals.
MCC sophomore Eva Hradel contributed six points and eight rebounds.
MCC junior Grace Weinert added five assists and four steals.
MCC senior Charlie Banks grabbed seven rebounds.
Shelby senior Aubrey Klotz led her team with 10 points, three rebounds and two assists.
Shelby junior Molli Schultz scored six points.
Shelby junior Biloxi Lee hustled to a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with four points.
MCC got on the board first, but Shelby answered with a 3-pointer by Schultz to hold an early 3-2 lead. The Tigers held that lead for a bit until the Spartans shook off the rust and answered with a 7-0 run to close the first quarter.
MCC outscored Shelby 25-5 in the second quarter to build a 34-8 lead and effectively put the game out of reach.
Next up for both teams: Mason County Central hosts Hesperia in a WMC Rivers contest on Friday, while Shelby welcomes White Cloud in a nonleague game next Monday.
Next week, MCC faces a big nonconference test when the Spartans travel north to Maple City Glen Lake to take on the top-ranked team in Division 4. Last season, Glen Lake advanced to the Division 3 state semifinals before falling to eventual state champion Ypsilanti Arbor Prep. Glen Lake is 6-0 so far this season.