MORAN — On a night when Marmaton Valley High celebrated its past, Janae Granere showed the present is plenty bright, too.
The Wildcat junior was dominant from the outside, scoring 14 of Marmaton Valley’s first 16 points, and ending up with 29 in a 40-17 romp over visiting Oswego.
The win is Marmaton Valley’s second in a row since coming back from an extended Christmas break and evens the Wildcats’ record at 3-3 on the season.
Head coach Becky Carlson invited members of Marmaton Valley’s 1973-74 girls basketball team — the first Lady Cat squad in school history — for a postgame celebration.
“It was really fun to have them here,” Granere said. “They brought the game to our school, and it was fun to show them how thankful we were.”
Granere’s performance was thanks enough.
After teammate Payton Scharff drained a couple of early free throws to stake MV to a 2-0 lead, Granere took over.
She scored Marmaton Valley’s next 16 points, many coming from steals and layups, against an overmatched Oswego backcourt.
“We got up and down well,” Carlson said.
“We played really tough defense,” Granere agreed, “and on offense, I had teammates who did a good job of finding me.”
The Wildcats extended their 16-2 first-quarter lead to 28-7 at halftime
And even though Marmaton Valley called off its press after halftime, Granere simply shifted her scoring attack from the outside. She drilled three 3-pointers on the night, two in the third quarter to finish with her 29th point.
Even though she was inches away from matching her career high 30, Granere gave the scoring mark little thought. Neither did Carlson, who sat her starters early in the final frame for the rest of the night.
Carlson praised Granere and Scharff, who wound up with nine points for the evening.
“Janae does a great job and she distributes the ball well,” Carlson said. “Payton really stepped up for us, too. The other girls were trying, but we just couldn’t get them to drop.”
Granere is bullish on the Wildcats’ future as the midseason tournament approaches.
“Our ceiling is really high,” she said. “We have a good starting five and a deep bench.”
