Marshall Takes Down Lady Cats
January 11, 2018

Photo courtesy of Tricia Kittleson
Belleville's Jade Halvensleben (#13) takes a shot during the game against Marshall.
The Belleville Wildcats Girls Basketball team played host to the Cardinals of Marshall on Thursday, January 4th. In a hard fought battle between Capitol South Conference foes, the Cardinals prevailed 63-46 to remain unbeaten.
The 9th ranked Division 3 Cardinals started the game out white-hot as they built up a 25-5 lead just about midway through the first half. The Belleville squad would not go away quite so easy, as they ended the half on a 19-4 run of their own to make the score 29-24 at half in favor of the Cardinals.
"We came out and hit a few shots early to go up 5-2, then we just sort of got away from what we do as a team," said Coach Greenleaf. "You can't spot any team a 20-point lead early, especially one the caliber of Marshall. To our credit, we always feel we can comeback...the never give in mindset we try to instill in the girls. We started playing more up tempo and better defensively and we were right back in it at halftime."
Marshall came out hard right out of the gates for the second half, using a 12-2 start to go up 15 early.
"We told our girls that we had the momentum going into halftime and that the first two minutes of the second half would be very important to come out and keep that momentum. Obviously that didn't happen and we got down by 15," said Greenleaf.
Marshall would keep their lead the rest of the way, winning by the 17-point difference.
"Marshall is a good team, no doubt. I feel we still can compete with them better than we did tonight...once we are all healthy and injury free, I think we will be a different team."
Junior Jade Halvensleben led Belleville with 14 points and five rebounds. Senior Kalin O'Rourke netted 11 and sophomore Jenna Shrader put in 10 points to round out double figure scorers. Junior Rachael Heittola scored 9 points and grabbed 19 rebounds.
Next up for Belleville will be a visit to Cambridge to play the Blue Jays on Tuesday, January 9th.