Shyla Sanford and Madeline Malicki lead Shaker to 50-41 win over Albany
By Sean Martin
Albany
The one-two punch of Shyla Sanford and Madeline Malicki got Shaker off to a good on the road against Albany and when the Blue Bison turned up the defensive pressure in the second half, Shaker was on its way to a season-opening win over the Lady Falcons.
Sanford and Malicki scored 19 points apiece with each contributing four steals as Shaker knocked off Albany 50-41 in Suburban Council play Tuesday night.
Shaker led 22-19 at the half before finding its rhythm on both ends of the floor in the second half.
“We have a little different look this year, we come out small and play a little more zone,” Shaker coach Ron Beaudoin said. “The second half was a better defensive effort overall, we switched up to man, it was just a great overall effort by everyone.”
Shaker (1-0, 1-0) took control in the third as Malicki hit two of her three 3-pointers in the period and with Albany forced to defend the perimeter, Sanford found room to roam down low, scoring 12 points in the second half, including eight in the fourth quarter.
“My 3’s weren’t falling tonight so I decided to do something else,” Sanford said. ““They had to come out and now, the middle was wide open. Everyone was finding me down low and that is when I got all those points.”
Malicki’s hit a 3-pointer with 3:41 left in the third to give Shaker a 31-25 lead and another with 2:04 left to give the Blue Bison a 36-27 lead, its biggest margin of the game to that point.
“We shot terribly in the first half, it was awful and I know we are a better shooting team than that,” Beaudoin said. “Maddy got a little roughed up and I think she likes that because the next couple plays were back-to-back 3’s and then going to the foul line hitting over 50-percent of her foul shots.”
Shaker’s pressure defense clogged the Albany (1-1, 0-1) passing lanes and dictated the tempo of the game and led to numerous layup opportunities, helping the Blue Bison earn a 27-18 margin in free throws attempted.
“Our motto is always defense, that is what we always work on in practice,” Malicki said.
Alexandra Debeatham added nine points while leading Shaker with 10 rebounds and helped defend Albany center Haille Hart, who finished with 10 points.
“I thought, Lexi Debeatham, Hannah (Malicki), Lexi Ratigan, Julia Debetham really did a great job containing Haille,” Beaudoin said.
Trailing by 10 entering the fourth quarter, Albany chipped away at the Shaker lead and cut the gap to 42-36 on a Hart basket with 3:12 left to play but the Lady Falcons could not draw any closer with Sanford leading the Shaker charge.
“We tried to tell her (Sanford), this year, make a goal for yourself,” Beaudoin said. “She’s got a couple of goals in mind, she’s really trying to work on driving more, pull up jump shots and rebounding more. She had a career-high five rebounds (tonight).”
Aubrey Halloran led Albany with 14 points and Junasia Lanier chipped in 10.
Sean Martin is a local freelance writer
SHAKER-
M. Malicki 4 8-13 19, J. Debeatham 0 1-2 1, Sanford 6 7-10 19, A. Debeatham 4 1-2 9, Morrell 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 17-27 50.
ALBANY
Lanier 2 5-6 10, Harris 0 4-6 4, Halloran 6 1-2 14, Hart 5 0-4 10, Estrada 1 0-0 3. Totals 14 10-18 41.
Score by Quarter 1 2 3 4 F
Shaker
Albany
3-point goals – M. Malicki 3; Lanier, Halloran, Estrada
