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The Lady Pioneers fell to a good Harbor Beach squad, 52-33, in the championship game of the Pioneer Sugar Christmas Tournament. It was the first year that the tournament also had girls competition.

Harbor Beach (5-1) took an early lead and never relinquished it Friday on their home court. The Lady Pirates were on top 17-9 after a quarter and 27-16 after two.

Cros-Lex made an early run in the third quarter when senior center/forward Erin Lamb twice scored to cut the margin to seven. After a three-pointer by Alicia Seltz put Beach up by 10, 37-27, the Lady Pirates put on some full-court pressure that led to eight straight points. A three-point play by sophomore Brianne Woycehoski ended a 15-1 run by Harbor Beach.

Darren Bongard, C-L coach, said the press did his team in. "We knew what we had to do against it, where to pass, but we didn't do it. We didn't make great decisions," said Bongard. "Every time we got into a half-court set, we did well, offensively and defensively.

"I don't want to take anything away from Harbor Beach," added Bongard. "But it would have been nice to have played on Saturday and have a day to plan. We should've had something (Friday morning), but this was our first experience with a tournament like this. We'll know better next time. We went 1-1 and we played in the first girls Pioneer Christmas tournament. Hopefully, now we'll lear from this and we'll get better."

Lamb's 10 points led C-L scoring. Nicole Miserlian and Jackie VanderGraaff added seven and six points. For Harbor Beach, Heidi Grekowicz had 14 points and Woycehoski finished with 12.

Consolation game

Peck 51 I.A. Flint 22

The Lady Pirates of Peck bounced back after a loss to Harbor Beach in the semis to win the consolation game at he Pioneer Sugar Tournament. Peck led by just nine, 22-13, at halftime against the young International Academy of Flint team. In the second half, the Lady Pirates exploited a zone defense and went on to an overwhelming victory.

"They were in a zone and I kept telling the girls to drive and look to the weak side because it was wide open," explained Peck coach Carrie Robinet. "We kept doing that and we had lay-ups."

Senior post Kayla O'Connor turned in her second double-double of the season to spark Peck (3-5), netting 19 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Junior Tonya McCann chipped in with 11 points.

Semifinals

Cros-Lex 61 I. A. Flint 20

In the first semifinal on Thursday at Peck High School, the Lady Pioneers had no problems advancing with the win over International Academy of Flint. They led 33-13 at halftime 47-17 after three quarters.

"It was nice – everybody got to get in and contribute," said Bongard. Ten of 11 players scored for C-L.

Amanda Kalso led the way with 12 points. Cheyenne Renfroe and VanderGraaff followed with nine and eight and Miserlian and Lamb each had seven.

Harbor Beach 50 Peck 18

The Lady Pirates of Peck had a poor start and never challenged in Thursday's second semifinal. They trailed 15-0 to Harbor Beach in the opening quarter and 28-5 by the break.

McCann led Peck in scoring with six points. Beach had 10 points from Kaylie Lochrie and nine from Alicia Seltz.