St. Bede comes out strong to win Lady Bruins Christmas Classic opener

PERU – Coming off Christmas Day, St. Bede girls basketball coach Tom Ptak wasn’t sure how his team would come out in its first game of the Lady Bruins Christmas Classic.

The Bruins came out strong and led start to finish in a 56-38 victory over Annawan in the last of six games on the first day of 37th edition of the tournament.

“You always worry about after the holiday and how they’re going to come out,” Ptak said. “We waited all day. I’m pleased with how they came out.

“I thought we played well. We came out with some confidence. We’ve been working on our shooting, and I think that showed tonight.”

St. Bede scored the first eight points of the game with the first two on a runner by Lili McClain, who also capped the opening surge with a 3-pointer.

The Bruins led 12-2 after the first quarter.

“I think it was just knowing we could do it,” McClain said. “We watched them earlier [in Annawan’s 43-42 loss to Orion], so we knew we could beat them. We came out strong and carried that energy throughout the whole game.”

The Bravettes scored the first five points of the second quarter to pull within five at 12-7, but Annawan never got any closer.

The Bruins had a big response to Annawan’s run as Quinn McClain drove to the basket to start a 15-2 run that pushed St. Bede’s lead to 27-9.

Lili McClain drained back-to-back 3s during the run, and Ava Balestri finished the run with a three-point play.

“I think we played really well as a team,” Lili McClain said. “We did a lot better moving the ball and kicking it out when we needed to. We just played as a team.”

The Bruins led 29-12 at halftime, and St. Bede pushed its lead to as many as 22 points in the second half.

“We just kept the energy up,” Lili McClain said. “That’s the main thing. If you play with energy, you’re going to keep playing well.”

Lili McClain drained five 3-pointers and scored a team-high 17 points.

“I think it was the day off,” McClain said about why she got going from beyond the arc. “We’ve been shooting a lot in practice, and I think it’s been helping, and then just having confidence in myself to keep shooting the ball.”

Quinn McClain finished with 10 points, including a pair of 3s, while the Bruins also got inside scoring from Ashlyn Ehm (10 points), Savannah Bray (nine points) and Balestri (eight points).

“I think that’s huge [to have inside and outside offense going],” Ptak said. “We have to teach them that sometimes when they get an inside look, it doesn’t always have to go right up. We’re working on inside-out. We’ve been emphasizing that. We have the size, and we have to utilize it more. If we get that inside-outside going, we’ll be a tough team to beat.”

Defensively, the Bruins focused on limiting Annawan standout Clara Bella VanOpdorp, who finished with a game-high 23 points but had only eight points at halftime.

“We knew No. 1 was their player,” Ptak said. “She averages 18 per game. We talked about how she’s a threat outside and inside, so we have to take away the 3 and we needed help because she’s a good driver. I thought we did well with that.”