On Nov. 27th the Lady Cardinals traveled to Bayfield for their third game of the season against their great rival. Just like any sport, basketball teams can completely be altered with the coming season. Seniors leave and sometimes the dynamic of the team changes and sometimes it continues. The Cardinals, for the most part, have kept the pace from the following year. However, they lost two post players, Heather Ranta and Signe Branham. Both these graduated athletes put up good numbers for the Cardinals and often gave them a height advantage. For the Bayfield Trollers, they lost quite a few huge scoring threats. One of these main scoring threats being Lindsay Bressette, a 1st team and player of the year athlete. This year’s team is quite young and the Cardinals weren’t quite sure what to expect. Nonetheless, Bayfield has always been tough competition for South Shore and the win was important.

The game started at 6:30 p.m. due to the postponement of the South Shore J.V. season. Chloe Sipsas won the tip-off for South Shore tipping the ball to Taylor Nicoletti for a sharp pass to her sister, Rylee Nicoletti who then drove to the basket to score a lay-up and get the foul call. She then sank her free throw putting the Cardinals up by three right away. Throughout the rest of the game, Bayfield shot very well, nearly 80% from the field. However, South Shore played some aggressive defense getting plenty of steals and stops. A lot of their scoring was due to their proficient defense. Rylee Nicoletti and Chloe Sipsas were dominant on the court, scoring on many fast breaks and drives to the basket. For Bayfield, Leala Birkholz-LaPointe shot 100% from behind the arc, making five three-pointers. Janelle Gordon also sunk a few threes herself. The Cardinals remained ahead for the whole first half, up 38-29.

The second half was more of the same story. The Trollers continued their incredible field goal percentage, but the Cardinals’ defense was too much for them. South Shore also had a significant height advantage, assisting their good defense and scoring. Bayfield’s shooting proved to not be enough and the Cardinals remained on top by at least five points throughout the whole second half. South Shore sealed Bayfield’s fate winning 65-51.

Senior Rylee Nicoletti and sophomore Chloe Sipsas owned the floor for South Shore combining for 48 of the 65 points. Chloe Sipsas had 29 points, 5 steals, 4 rebounds, and one assist and block. Rylee Nicoletti came in second with 19 points, 9 steals, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Aurora Grant, Taylor Nicoletti, and Sara Kangas all chipped in 4 points. Tiiara Lahti made three free throws and Natalie Knaack got two points. Overall the Cardinals are showing some strong advances and we cannot wait to see what the season brings them.