By Fred Solis
The Hutchinson Tribune
ANDALE—Four Indians scored in double figures last Friday against El Dorado, leading Andale to a convincing 71-45 win over the Wildcats on homecoming night.
Mayla Spexarth had a game-high 18 points with seven rebounds, Abbi Winter scored 16 including four treys and dished out seven assists. Brooke Grimes poured in 15 points while drilling three 3s and handing out eight assists, and Addy Orth added 13, including two 3s.
Two points separated the teams at the end of the first quarter, with Andale on top 13-11. But the Indians exploded for 21 points in the second quarter that began with a 12-2 run. El Dorado scored just six points in the quarter—two at the line and then a three-minute gap between their two baskets—and trailed 34-17 at the half.
“Early, it was kind of close. I mean, no one was running away with it,” said Andale Coach Joe’Randle Toliver. “We just picked it up a little bit. We like to press. We like to throw different defenses at other teams,” he said of the Indians’ big second quarter.
“That defensive presence can cause us to have more than one or two or three players in double figures. So, when we’re shooting the ball like that, it’s going to be hard to beat us in defending,” Toliver said.
Andale’s trapping and double-teaming defense induced 26 El Dorado turnovers, which the Indians turned into 22 points. Spexarth scored six of the Indians’ 12 points at the start of the third quarter, pushing the Indians’ lead to 48-32.
Spexarth’s points in the paint and rebounding also contributed to 16 offensive boards for the Indians, which they converted into 23 second-chance points. Andale shot 54.8% from the floor (19-of-32) on the night while El Dorado was 16-of-35 for 45.7%.
In the fourth quarter the Indians rained down 23 points, with Winter scoring eight in a 35-second span as part of a 13-2 Andale run that put the game away. Grimes added an exclamation point with a trey with 34 seconds left to close out the game.
Andale, 13-6, is ranked ninth in the state in 4A and will play the final game of the regular season on Thursday, Feb. 26, at home against Clearwater.