By Kalen Lumpkins

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

MILLBURY — A stagnant first quarter turned into a shootout the rest of the way, as Lake (7-11, 6-6 Northern Buckeye) girls basketball defeated Fostoria (7-10, 6-6 Northern Buckeye) 62-41 to open up the month of February. The win ends a two-game skid for the Flyers.

It was an unpredictable game in terms of tempo, and Lake coach Joe Nowak was happy to see his team overcome the changes in pace.

“At the beginning of the game, it was a little bit of an offensive struggle, to say the least for both teams, but I was really happy [that we played] good defense and rebounded the ball well,” said Nowak. “We didn’t just settle and do it for the first quarter, we did that for the rest of the game.”

Offense was not the name of the game during the first period, as both teams committed turnovers and missed free throws to slug their way to a 2-2 score at the end of one.

The second quarter, however, is when the fireworks started, as Sydney Stanley racked up nine of her 18 points in this period. She also finished with three rebounds, three assists and three steals.

“I just feel like we needed to pick up our energy, and we just needed to be more aggressive. We were being a little shy and we needed to put ourselves out there and show who we really are.” Stanley said about the second quarter.

Stanley was happy with her performance against Fostoria, but she is looking ahead to how she can build on the night.

“This was a good game, but we have to keep pushing and doing our best and putting it all out there,” Stanley said.

As Stanley lit up the scoreboard in the second, the battle on the boards was split even, as both teams had 15 rebounds in the first half. Lake has two players with four first-half rebounds.

Senior Karma Williams had a strong presence in the paint as well, finishing with 10 points and four rebounds. Fostoria coach Derek Angelone praised her ability to spread the floor.

“Karma is somebody that has to play a lot of positions for us, she’s either a very strong guard or an undersized post,” said Angelone. “I think she was the main staple we had tonight, I loved the way she attacked the rim, [and] I think she could have easily had 20.”

In the third quarter, Lake drained three-pointers left and right, as Stanley and Kandence Enckenrode’s sharp shooting forced the Redmen to regroup as the Lake lead increased to 12 at the two-minute mark. A three-pointer from Alajah Williams brought the black jerseys within eight.

In the fourth, Lake was able to get to the free-throw line on multiple occasions to put the game away. Both teams struggled from the charity stripe, though, with Fostoria missing 15 free throws on the night.

“Foul shooting was horrendous, and that changes the game right there. We did a fantastic job of getting to the line, we just need to convert more,:” said coach Angelone.

For Lake, 62 points is a season-high for the Flyers’ offense. Coach Nowak dug deeper into how his team was able to keep putting up numbers.

“[Stanley] has done a good job of being the catalyst for a lot of the action that we get and the momentum that we can potentially create. What I’m really happy with is that it is contagious a bit, once she’s impressive, it opens things up for other players.”

Fostoria will host Cory-Rawson on Feb. 3 at 2 p.m., while Lake will host Northwood on the same day at 6 p.m.