Ogemaw's Jorie Lucas rips a rebound away from Gladwin's Chelsea Mott in the second half of the Falcons' 55-38 victory.
The Falcons' Lauren Gillette tries to post up against Gladwin's Michelle Benmark.
Brent Baker
Ogemaw Heights' Kaitlin Morrell pulls down a rebound between Gladwin's Amanda Linton (50) and Ashlee Johnson (32) during Friday's 55-38 victory.

OGEMAW HEIGHTS - Dec. 21, 2007 - Ogemaw Heights' girls basketball team won the opening game of the Falcons' first-ever varsity doubleheader Friday, using its full court press to break away from Gladwin 55-38.

The Falcons' pressure keyed a couple of decisive runs, including a 9-2 burst to open the game and a nine-point run midway through the third quarter that opened up a 42-27 lead after the Flying G's had cut the Ogemaw lead to six.

"We're young and inconsistent," said Ogemaw Heights coach Tim Hansen. "We're doing some things real well at times. Other times its a different story.

"I think we pressured them well, but we didn't always finish it off. I really feel like we're still not playing up to our capabilities; I believe there's more there than we've shown except maybe in the Standish game."

Colleen Wren scored the first seven Ogemaw points, twice making steals herself that she converted into baskets. When Gladwin cut into the lead, Ashley Thompson hit a 3-pointer and a regular basket to open the lead back up to 16-8.

The Flying G's, missing five players due to a school conflict (including one of their top three scorers), hung around into the third quarter. But the Ogemaw pressure paid off again in a 9-0 run that included two baskets by Keshia Allen, three points from Kristi Killackey and a Thompson layup.

The Falcons maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

The downside for Hansen was the fact that much of the crowd wasn't responsive to the girls game.

"It was awfully quiet," he said as the student section was making more noise during the warm-up for the boys game than it had during the girls contest. "Those were their classmates out on the floor busting their butts; it was really disappointing. Ogemaw Heights has a much better student body than that, and it should have been a lot louder."

They'll get their chance Friday, Jan. 4 when the Falcons host Tawas Area in another varsity doubleheader with NEMC title implications for both teams.

Ogemaw, which improved to 3-3 overall, was led by Thompson's 15 points , with Wren adding 11. Meredith Rosin paced Gladwin with 10.