LE ROY — For more than a quarter, Southern Coffey County High’s girls stood toe-to-toe with visiting Crest, exchanging flurries of baskets like they were trading cards in both teams’ season opener Thursday.
The Lady Titans scored the first six points of the game; the Lady Lancers responded with seven straight.
Southern Coffey County head coach Jeff True called timeout immediately after his senior guard, Chenae Newkirk, scored on a bucket to give SCC a 20-18 lead with about 2 minutes left in the first half.
The Lady Titans emerged from the timeout with a new defensive strategy: trapping the Crest ball handlers as they made their way up the court.
The move coincided with a devastating 16-0 run that spanned more than 8 minutes, putting SCC well in control of a 49-25 victory.
“I was happy with our defense, particularly in the second half,” True said. “I liked the way the kids got up and floor.”
On offense, True was particularly fond of how Newkirk and Miranda Alumbaugh were able to move the ball up the floor after steals or rebounds and get clean passes into SCC’s post players.
Newkirk ended the first half scoring with a layup, then scored on layups twice in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter. Breanna Isch scored twice inside to push the lead to 34-18 midway through the third.
Karlee Hammond — one of three freshman starters for Crest — ended the drought with a layup at the 2:15 mark of the third period.
Undaunted, SCC then put together a 13-1 run as True began substituting liberally.
“They’re a good team,” Crest head coach Ben Vaughn said. “Their girls do what they’re supposed to do. We just ran out of gas.”
With only one senior on the Lady Lancer roster, Vaughn was pleased with Crest’s “moments of absolute brilliance” through much of the first half.
Freshman Laurel Godderz was particularly effective, scoring eight of the Lady Lancers’ first 11 points. Junior Madison Covey’s jumper with 2:50 left in the half capped a 9-4 Crest run to tie the score at 18-18.
But that was when SCC shifted gears, offensively and defensively.
“The girls did a great job of playing post defense without fouling,” True said. “Give Crest credit. They played hard the entire game. I think we wore them down, but they kept getting after it.”
Isch led the Lady Titans with 18 points, followed by Newkirk with 14 and Kalyn Deal with 12.
“By the second half, we had nothing left,” Vaughn said. “We started three freshmen, and four played significant minutes. They got a taste of it, so now we need to adapt. Every night’s going to be a battle. I think everybody on the team showed flashes. It’s just a matter of putting it all together.”
Godderz paced Crest with eight points. Madison Covey and Miranda Golden both scored five.
Southern Coffey County also won the junior varsity contest, 14-11, in two quarters. Taryn Covey scored four and Godderz had three for the Lady Lancers.
Southern Coffey County heads to Yates Center on Monday to open play in the Wildcat Invitational against the host team. Crest will be in Humboldt on Tuesday for the Cubs’ preseason tournament to take on Erie.
Crest (11-7-3-4—25)
SCC (14-10-14-11—49)
Crest (FG-FT-F-TP): M. Covey, 2-1-5-4, Hammond 1-2-4-4, Frank 1-1-1-3, Godderz 3-2-1-8, Golden 2-1-3-5, T. Covey 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 9-7-15-25.
SCC (FG-FT-T-TP): Lyda 0-1-1-1, Newkirk 7-0-0-14, Lehmann 0-0-2-0, Deal 5-2-1-12, Emmons 0-0-1-0, Hegwald 0-0-1-0, Sherwood 1-0-2-2, Brite 0-0-2-0, Isch 9-0-2-18, Vanderman 1-0-2-2. TOTALS: 23-3-14-49.
Defense fuels Lady Titans
