#12 Unity Christian ended Okoboji’s five-game winning streak and season in the first round of Region 6 play on Saturday night, 81-55 in Orange City. The Knights would jump out to a quick 9-0 lead before Okoboji answered with a 7-4 run to make the score 13-7 midway through the first quarter, but Unity Christian would end the quarter on a 6-3 run to take a 19-10 lead into the second frame. The Knights would take control of the game midway through the second quarter with the score at 25-15 as they went on a 15-4 run to end the half and take a commanding 40-19 lead into halftime. The Pioneers would trim that lead to 46-29 but Unity would respond and Knights took take a 64-39 lead into the fourth quarter. Okoboji would trim the lead to 20 several times in the final quarter but could get no closer, and Unity Christian would cruise to the victory the rest of the way. Lynnae Abrahamson led Okoboji with 13 points on 3 for 4 shooting from the 3-point line; Ava Packebush would add 9 points and 3 assists, Olivia Lorenzen and Carly Carstens each chipped in with 8 points while Zoey Holmes grabbed a team-high 6 rebounds. Gracie Schoonhoven led Unity Christian with 32 points while Cassady Dekkers and Jadyn Hofmyer each added 18 points. Okoboji finishes the season at 10-13 while Unity Christian improves to 17-5 and will host West Lyon on Wednesday in the second round of Region 6 play. Okoboji will say goodbye to five senior players, Lynnae Abrahamson, Carly Carstens, Makenna Helmers, Olivia Lorenzen and Emma Wittrock and three managers, Jazmyn Hallow, Amy Martin and Mallory Mosher.
Quotes from John Adams
Unity Christian really came out aggressive, and we just didn’t respond to it right away, falling behind 9-0. I was proud of how the girls responded to that, and how they competed the entire game, like this group has done all season long. Gracie Schoonhoven was such a tough match-up for us, and she played a great game, as did Cassidy Dekkers and Jadyn Hofmeyer for them. Lynnae Abrahamson hit some big shots for us to keep us in it for a while; Ava Packebush had a really strong second half; Carly Carstens took another two charges for us to get her total to 20 on the year, and I thought Olivia Lorenzen played really well for us. It’s really hard to say goodbye to this senior group, they’ve given so much of themselves for this program, and did an outstanding job of leading this team through the peaks and valleys of the season. Not many teams could have two six-game losing streaks followed by two five-game winning streaks, and that speaks volumes to the leadership that this group showed and how well they kept our team together.”
