Keen, Kozlowski lead Gaylord to opening night win over Grayling
GAYLORD ― Ready or not, the winter high school sports season is officially here.
The Gaylord girls basketball team is coming into the season with high expectations, returning three of their five All-Big North players from a team that finished as the runner-ups in the conference a season ago, and they looked to get this year off on the right foot as they hosted the Grayling Vikings on Tuesday, November 29.
It ended up being a game Gaylord could control from start to finish, and, despite some forced and unforced errors made, the Blue Devils were able pull away for a 49-38 victory to start the season with a 1-0 record.
Headed into the zone
Gaylord came into the game with a few mismatches for Grayling to contend with, most notably senior Meghan Keen down low. A first-team All-Big North honoree in 2021 after averaging 11.2 points and 7 rebounds, Keen's length makes her a hard cover for most teams the Blue Devils will face. Without a post player that could match her size down low, the Vikings needed a gameplan to make others more involved.
Their answer was an aggressive, trapping zone that forced Gaylord's guards, senior Alexis Kozlowski, junior Avery Parker and freshman Karlee Pretzlaff, to make smart decisions as soon as they crossed halfcourt.
That aggressive defense, mixed with some of the expected opening night jitters, forced Gaylord into a few turnovers and allowed the Vikings to hang around early, trailing 9-5 after the first quarter despite the physical mismatches on the Blue Devils' side.
The second quarter was much of the same story, with Gaylord leading the entire way but failing to pull away at any point. Kozlowski's 7 points and Keen's 5 points led the team at halftime, but the 19-14 Gaylord lead wasn't enough for a hungry Blue Devils team.
Slowing down, shots start falling
Out of halftime, head coach Kelli Parker's team seemed much more ready for what the Grayling defense was throwing at them while using strong defense of their own to go on an early second-half run. Three straight steals out of the break led to back-to-back Avery Parker layups, extending the Gaylord lead to nine points and giving all the momentum to the Blue Devils.
From there, the confidence radiated through the entire Blue Devils roster as they started getting contributions from all over. The defense continued to come up with steals in their own zone look, while Kozlowski, Pretzlaff and Hali Lenartowicz all knocked down 3-pointers in the third quarter to help the Blue Devils push their lead to 36-22 by the end of the period.
The Grayling zone started to produce some turnovers again late in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late for the Vikings as Pretzlaff added another six points from deep in the final frame to help ice the 49-38 victory.
Keen, Kozlowski lead the way
Meghan Keen led the team with 14 points, shooting 5-for-8 from the free-throw line. Alexis Kozlowski added 12 points, with six coming from 3-point range. All nine of Karlee Pretzlaff's points came in the second half, and they all came from behind the 3-point line as the freshman showed her shooting range in her first varsity game.
Other contributors included Hali Lenartowicz (eight points), Avery Parker (four points) and Addison Wangler (two points). Freshman Addison McDonald also made her varsity debut, while sophomore Kennedy Wangler provided key minutes throughout the game.
Gaylord starts the season at 1-0, with its next game scheduled for Thursday, December 1 as the Blue Devils travel to Cheboygan for their first road game of the season.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Meghan Keen, Alexis Kozlowski lead Gaylord girls basketball to opening night win over Grayling
