Lady Dawgs’ Geiser has monster game against Norwayne

PHOTO BY DREW HUGLAND | DGKN photographer

Dalton senior Makenna Geiser scored 22 points against Norwayne.

By Ariel Stahler

Gazette & News sports writer

Makenna Geiser has been having a great senior season for Dalton High School’s varsity girls basketball team and her game against Norwayne Dec. 19 may have been a highlight game of her career. She scored 22 points, all before halftime, grabbed five rebounds and dished three assists as she led the Lady Dawgs to a 70-49 home victory.

Geiser said the team wanted it to be known they were for real after their win over Chippewa.

“Coming off the big win at Chippewa, we really wanted to prove that our win wasn’t a fluke,” she said. “So coming out, I wanted to be aggressive and get to the basket, and luckily, I was able to do that for the team. My teammates and coaches were awesome in finding me, and in the second half, we really showed that we’re a competing team.”

Camille Beatty scored 16 points, pulled five boards and had three assists. Mia Weaver added 15 points and two rebounds. Tess Denning contributed 10 points, six rebounds and one assist. Ella Lunsford and Gabby Cicconetti combined for five points. Lauren Clos finished with five assists, two rebounds and one point. Kelsey Shoup had three assists, one board and one point.

“Makenna’s aggressiveness really helped us through the first half,” said Dalton’s head coach Katie Miller. “She was very good. In the second half, our players did a much better job of getting themselves going. We knew defensively [Norwayne] had the ability to play inside-out. Overall, our kids did a nice job.”

During this exciting game, the action never stopped, not even at halftime. During the break, the Little Dribblers showed off their skills. According to Miller, the Little Dribblers consisted of 24 students from kindergarten, first grade and second grade. Assistant coach Beth Campana and Geiser hosted an hour-long skill session with the students every Monday for the past seven weeks.

“Coach Campana loved the energy our Little Dribblers brought each Monday,” Miller said. “They did a fantastic job during their halftime performance of the varsity game Thursday night. We would like to thank all our Little Dribblers for all their hard work over the last two months to prepare for this.”

The Lady Dawgs continued to roll when they faced Fairless Dec. 21. They stopped the Falcons 47-22. Beatty led the way with 15 points and one rebound. Geiser finished with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists. Lunsford scored five points, grabbed one rebound and passed one assist. Grace Greer and Piper Cannon combined for five points. Denning scored four points. Weaver had four rebounds, two assists and two points. Shoup added three rebounds, two assists and two points. Clos ripped three boards, dropped three dimes and scored two points. Kylee Johnson had two points, one rebound and one assist.

Follow Ariel on Twitter @AStahlerDGKNews