Otsego’s Kylee Bernthisel looks to pass as Lake’s Nicole Pennington defends.(Photos: Enoch Wu/Sentinel-Tribune)

TONTOGANY — Starting slowly has become almost routine for Lake’s girls basketball team.
The story was no different Friday night at Otsego.
The fourth-ranked Flyers found themselves trailing 9-3 after the opening quarter, but stayed true to
their defense and went on to win convincingly, 45-28.
“We got some steals, we got some baskets and … we have to score so we can get into our press because
we’re very active in our press,” Lake head coach Denny Meyer said. “If we score and they (Otsego) have
to take it out of bounds, then we can get set and we run our traps a lot better.”
The Flyers improved to 14-0 overall and 7-0 in the Suburban Lakes League, while Otsego fell to 6-11, 4-5.

Lake’s defense, led by senior Kaysie Brittenham, held Otsego to just 10 points in the second half after
the Knights held an 18-17 lead at halftime.
Not only did Brittenham lead her team on defense in the second half, but she also led the Flyer offense.

When the third quarter ended with Lake leading 29-21, Brittenham took over the game.
After teammate Hannah Cox’s third 3-point basket of the game, Brittenham put on a scoring clinic,
accounting for the Flyers’ final 13 points.
She finished with a game-high 20 points, while Cox contributed with 11.
Meyer and Otsego head coach Scott Bernthisel agreed the turning point in the game came with about five
minutes left in the second quarter.
At that time and after leading by as many as eight points in the second, Otsego began to feel the
defensive pressure from Lake, and was forced into turnover after turnover, resulting in easy made shots
for the Flyers.
The easy baskets allowed Lake to cut its deficit to one point at halftime, and the momentum carried over
into the third quarter for the Flyers where they out-scored Otsego 12-3, which included a 9-0 run.
“We really pride ourselves on defense,” said Meyer. “We haven’t been shooting good in a lot of games this
year, but we play great defense. And a lot at halftime was just talking about having pride in your
defense. We said, ‘You’re way too good of a team to allow that to happen.’”

Otesgo’s Mackenzie Luman (34) shields the ball from Lake’s Nicole Pennington in a junior varsity game Friday. Otsego won the game, 42-18. (Photo: Enoch Wu/Sentinel-Tribune)

The Knights played a solid first quarter and then their play declined as the game progressed.
With its pressure defense, Otsego attempted to wear down Lake as the Flyers have only five players who
see regular playing time at the varsity level. But the Knights weren’t able to succeed and Lake stayed
fresh throughout the night, and went on to force the Knights into 24 turnovers.
“We played two real good quarters and two quarters that indicate what our record is,” Bernthisel said.
“They weren’t horrible quarters at all, and a lot of that had to do with what Lake did to us
(defensively). Those girls know how to win, and Denny (Meyer) does a great job with them, so hat’s off
to them.”
Lake’s offensive troubles began early, missing many layups and other shots near the basket. It also
didn’t make a 3-point basket until Brittenham made her first of two, at the 5:45 mark in the second
quarter.
Despite shooting only 1-of-12 (eight percent) in the first quarter, the Flyers managed to end the night a
respectable 19-of-42 (45 percent) from the field.
Carly Huston added nine points for Lake. The only other player to score for the Flyers was Alyssa
Shaffer, who had five points.
Otsego’s Hannah Greulich had an impressive night rebounding as she finished with a game-high 15 boards,
and adding four points.
Lexi Levin came off the bench to lead the Knights with eight points.
Otsego won the junior varsity game 42-18. Jenni Selders paced the Knights with 15 points, while Mallory
Lee led Lake with six.