Lady Grace Academy Eagles outrun Knights

Sometimes the ball bounces your way — literally, in Lauren Krumm’s case.

MARYSVILLE — Sometimes the ball bounces your way — literally, in Lauren Krumm’s case.

The Grace Academy senior center pulled down 28 rebounds to power her team to a 37-30 win against Highland Christian Dec. 8.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” said Eagles head coach Rick Holt. “I can remember 20 a few times and that was always incredible.”

Krumm was there to pick the Eagles up when they needed her the most, scoring five of her game-high 16 points during a crucial second quarter run.

“She is usually good for 10 or 15,” said Holt about Krumm’s rebounding prowess. “She does all the little things you need to do to get in position.”

The embodiment of Grace’s ability to crash the boards, 20 of Krumm’s rebounds were on the offensive end, keeping Eagles’ possessions alive.

The Eagles trailed 8-5 at the end of the first quarter, but opened the second quarter with 10 straight points to hold a 18-12 advantage by halftime.

“Highland is always a tough game because it’s kind of a rivalry for us,” Holt said. “They always play us well and we were blessed to come out of it with a win.”

As they have so far this season, the Eagles relied on a deep bench, consisting of eight upperclassmen, to outrun their opponent — a strategy that has earned them a 3-0 record including wins over Northwest Yeshiva and Mount Vernon Christian earlier this month.

“At this level, if you can play as many players as we can, you can just wear teams out,” Holt said.

Grace’s depth came in handy on the defensive end, as it pressured Highland full-court the entire game, resulting in a number of turnovers.